Not even this councilman can find a New York City apartment
Ossi: Looked for rents $1,500 to $2,000, found he was “delusional”
NEW YORK — In 2021, Chi Ossé, 24, a former Manhattan party promoter and activist against police brutality, became the youngest member of the New York City Council. Now, he faces a new test: moving out of his mother’s town house and finding an apartment.
Over the past two months, in between City Council meetings and conversations with constituents, Ossé, a Democrat, has hunted for a suitable one-bedroom apartment within his district, which includes parts of the Crown Heights and Bedford-stuyvesant neighborhoods in Brooklyn. But, as he recently tweeted, the futile search — he has seen 20 places so far and applied to five — has been “tiring, treacherous and competitive.”
Sometimes, Ossé said, he has been outfoxed by people moving faster than him. In other cases, he said apartments had floor damage or water damage. Or there was a washer and no dryer.
“Some of these apartments are like someone told an alien to draw their idea of what an apartment is,” he said. “They’ll have the fridge in the living room.”
Ossé is the son of a prominent hip-hop lawyer and podcaster, Reggie Ossé, better known as Combat Jack, who died in 2017. Chi Ossé acknowledges his privileges. As a city councilman, he earns close to $150,000 a year, more than double New York City’s median household income, meaning he does not have to make difficult choices between eating and paying rent.
That the hunt has been frustrating despite all those advantages reflects the depths of New York City’s housing crisis. The median monthly rent for new leases in Brooklyn was $3,400 in February, according to the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman, up nearly 10 percent from February 2020.
Ossé said housing was the top issue among his constituents. Many are grappling with double-digit rent increases. Others feel as if they are being priced out of their neighborhoods. Last year, Ossé and a handful of other council members voted against a city budget agreement negotiated with Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, in part because it did not invest enough in affordable housing.
Ossé said he began his search about two months ago. His brother and his brother’s girlfriend were moving into the town house with his mother. Ossé felt it was time to leave and find his first place so he could have more space and privacy.
He began by searching the listing site Streeteasy for a onebedroom apartment that would rent for $1,500 to $2,000. He quickly realized he was “delusional,” he said. He adjusted the price range upward to $2,500. Even then, he could find only a handful of apartments that were of decent quality and in his district.
“And those five would be off the market in 48 hours,” he said.
He raised his limit to $3,000. He started contacting friends to find out if they knew of any available places. He followed brokers on social media.
Over a recent weekend, he saw a place on Halsey Street and Lewis Avenue. He thought he connected with the landlord, who worked in politics and attended the same high school as Ossé.
“Monday came by and I didn’t hear from him,” Ossé said.
His exasperation prompted his post on Twitter last week, which also took aim at broker’s fees — one-time charges that can run thousands of dollars.
He may draft a bill that requires landlords to share the cost of the broker’s fee when renters find an apartment themselves.
He said his search had also sharpened his understanding of the city’s housing crisis, which he attributed to a housing shortage decades in the making. His district is one of the most rapidly gentrifying parts of the city. Ossé said developers should include more homes that rent below market rates, especially in neighborhoods like Bedford-stuyvesant and Crown Heights.
Many developers and landlords say regulations, taxes and the cost of land drive up the cost of operating a building, making it all but impossible to charge below-market rents and keep a building solvent. The mayor and other city officials have argued that imposing too many conditions on new development could force builders to abandon projects entirely and worsen the housing crisis.
Ossé’s search, however, may be nearing an end. On Saturday, after seeing a twobedroom apartment listed at close to $3,000 a month, he walked to an older building.
He had found the broker, Omar Thomas, on Instagram. He liked the apartment’s older style of wood floors and crown molding, which contrasted with some of the newer buildings he had seen. The monthly rent, $2,250, was also attractive, even though he would have to pay a broker’s fee.
On Monday, he applied. “I am hopeful,” he said. “But the last time I was hopeful was last weekend. I’m really not trying to get my hopes too high.”
“
Some of these apartments are like someone told an alien to draw their idea of what an apartment is. They’ll have the fridge in the living room.” — Chi Ossé, New York City councilman