In April 2023, as a bitter debate raged between landlords, tenants and policymakers over how to bring vacant, low-cost apartments back to the rental market during a severe housing crunch, Mayor Eric Adams and city officials stepped in with a solution.

If property owners were willing to renovate worn-out, rent stabilized apartments that were sitting vacant, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development would reimburse them up to $25,000 as long as they agreed to lease the units to low-income tenants with housing vouchers.

The Unlocking Doors program was billed as a way to address the “warehousing” of empty apartments that landlords say are too expensive to repair after longtime tenants leave because they can’t make enough back in monthly rent to cover the costs.

But nea

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