New York City is offering landlords with unrentable apartments some serious cash to bring them back to life. But does that mean the landlords actually want it?

Two-and-a-half years ago, the city offered to reimburse property owners up to $25,000 to fix up and rent out their unloved, rent-stabilized apartments.

The program, called Unlocking Doors, aimed to return these low-cost units to the city’s tight rental market. The problem: No one was really interested.

An investigation by Gothamist revealed that only one landlord has successfully applied for the program — and they never followed through with repairs. Another landlord returned an incomplete application and dropped out. 6

6

State law heavily restricts annual rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments. The only way out o

See Full Page