Manhattan Is Cheap Again, and Brooklyn Isn't

This past year Brooklynites have been time traveling back to when Manhattan rents were $1,600 or $1,700 for a one-bedroom apartment in the West Village or the Upper East Side.

A 27-year-old woman who sells advertising for NBCUniversal gave up her apartment in East Williamsburg and lived with family for a year in Florida. When she returned, prices hadn’t dropped in Brooklyn but they had in Manhattan, she found, and she nabbed a sunny, well maintained one-bedroom in the West Village in April of this year for $2,050 and two months of free rent, reported the New York Times.

A 23-year-old restaurant manager snagged a rent-stabilized one-bedroom on the Upper East Side for $1,600 in June 2020. “I was like, ‘This has to be one of those fake listings,’” he told the Times. “When I went to see it, it was also no-fee. It blew my mind. I was like, ‘Jackpot!’”

“For those who had always hoped to secure a foothold in the priciest borough, the past year presented a rare opportunity: Apartments in prime Manhattan neighborhoods were, in some cases, cheaper than comparable spaces in Brooklyn or Queens,” said the Times. “In Brooklyn, rents dropped by about 11 percent during the pandemic; in Manhattan, they dropped 22 percent.”

If you didn’t already score, it may be too late. Signings and median rent are on the upswing, according to recent market reports. Average rental price per square foot in Manhattan in May was $67.82. In Brooklyn, it was $47.44, according to Douglas Elliman’s May 2021 rental findings by appraiser Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel. The median rental price in May 2021 was $3,195 in Manhattan and $2,750 in Brooklyn.

Consider also the broader environment during COVID: Brooklyn’s parks, stoops, close-knit neighborhoods, and popular local neighborhood eateries and other businesses vs. the tourist-driven landscape of Manhattan. Factor in also the rising quality of life issues in a post-vaccination city — from gun violence to mental illness to fireworks and noise. (Fireworks season started in May in Brooklyn this year, for those keeping score.)

Will all this be a foggy dream in a year or two as we resume our “before” lives of office-appropriate clothing, commuting and the pre-COVID pecking order ruled by pre-social media Manhattan-centric celebrities? Even before COVID, the under-the-radar, low-rise, lo-fi Brooklyn way of life was fading thanks to price jumps and new development. What do you predict will be next?

Related Stories

• Brooklyn Apartment Sellers Take the Money and Run — Back to Manhattan
• Priced Out of Brooklyn
• While Rents Keep Declining, Signed Leases Rise in Brooklyn

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