Editing Openai/696a591f-d750-8006-8907-5e4de0290571 (section)

==== 2) “A huge % of these tenants are wealthy, white boomers… pieds-a-terres” ====

Verdict: mostly unsupported and contradicted by the best available data.

Race/ethnicity: The NYC Comptroller’s analysis of the 2023 HVS reports rent-stabilized apartments are disproportionately home to Hispanic and Black householders (59% combined) and 29% White householders. That’s the opposite of “huge % are white.” NYC Comptroller's Office<ref>{{cite web|title=NYC Comptroller's Office|url=https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/Accurately-Assessing-and-Effectively-Addressing-Vacancies-in-NYCs-Rent-Stabilized-Housing-Stock.pdf|publisher=NYC Comptroller's Office|access-date=2026-01-17}}</ref>

Income: The RGB’s 2024 Income & Affordability Study (based on the 2023 HVS) shows:
* Median income in rent-stabilized units: $60,000 (vs $90,800 market rentals). Rent Guidelines Board<ref>{{cite web|title=Rent Guidelines Board|url=https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-IA-Study.pdf|publisher=Rent Guidelines Board|access-date=2026-01-17}}</ref>
* Income distribution in stabilized units: 26% < $25k, 17% $25–49k, 27% $50–99k, 30% $100k+. Rent Guidelines Board<ref>{{cite web|title=Rent Guidelines Board|url=https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-IA-Study.pdf|publisher=Rent Guidelines Board|access-date=2026-01-17}}</ref> So: some higher-income households do benefit, but the data do not support “a huge % are wealthy.”

Pieds-à-terre / non-primary residence: Rent stabilization requires primary residence to keep protections. Rent Guidelines Board<ref>{{cite web|title=Rent Guidelines Board|url=https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/resources/faqs/primary-residence/|publisher=Rent Guidelines Board|access-date=2026-01-17}}</ref>
You can find anecdotes (especially Manhattan), but a claim that a “huge %” are pieds-à-terre users would require credible estimates (HVS tabulations or court-case statistics). I have not seen that in vetted NYC datasets. Also, reporting suggests the incentive to bring non-primary cases dropped after 2019 because vacancy bonuses were eliminated—again, not evidence of “huge %,” but it cuts against the idea that this is widespread and pursued at scale. The Real Deal<ref>{{cite web|title=The Real Deal|url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2023/02/23/illegal-pieds-a-terre-may-have-mushroomed-under-rent-law/|publisher=The Real Deal|date=2023-02-23|access-date=2026-01-17}}</ref>