West Village Affordable Units Drop Despite Borough Wide Upswing

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Hundreds of apartments have become newly affordable in Manhattan since the pandemic began, but not in the West Village, according to a new report.

The real estate website StreetEasy recently published a study showing the number of affordable apartments in each New York City neighborhood based on the average salary of an essential worker.

To find affordable apartments, the study used the average salary for New York's frontline essential workers — $55,973 — and found the listings where rent was no more than $1,400, or about 30 percent of the workers' monthly income.

For the overwhelming majority of Manhattan, neighborhoods saw rents plummet, but most essential workers don't live close enough to take advantage, according to a new report.

Only 12 percent of NYC essential workers live in Manhattan, according to a March 2020 study by the city's comptroller's office.

However, the West Village didn't fall into this category.

The Lower Manhattan neighborhood was one of the few areas, along with Battery Park City, Chelsea, and Inwood that actually saw a drop in its number of affordable apartments from 2019 to 2020.

The West Village saw the steepest drop in its number of affordable apartments of any in Manhattan.

The West Village had a 29 percent decrease in its number of affordable apartments from 2019 to 2020. It should be mentioned, though that the percent decrease was the number of affordable apartments dropping from just seven to five.

It is an indication of how few West Village apartments could be afforded on a $56,000 salary even before the pandemic started.