Zero New Housing Permits Issued in Manhattan Last Month

In a tweet, Manhattan borough president Mark Levine lamented the lack of new housing starts in the city, highlighting the fact that no new housing units were approved for construction in Manhattan in July. As Holden Walter-Warner writes in The Real Deal, “For all of New York City, only 10 buildings and 279 units were approved.”

Levine noted that the slowdown is not a seasonal phenomenon—“Last July, there were 215 units approved in the borough, Levine tweeted. Ten years ago, 1,208 units were approved.” According to the article, “likely culprits are high interest rates and the expiration of a key tax incentive, 421a,” which lapsed in June 2022.

Earlier this year, Levine issued a report that identifies the potential for 73,000 new housing units on 171 sites such as vacant lots and parking garages around Manhattan. In January, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new effort to boost housing production and bring housing costs down in a city where average rents now top $4,000.