$100,000 for first-time buyers, a 17-month rent strike, & more

By Austin Havens-Bowen | October 6, 2021 - 10:30AM

A dozen Brooklyn tenants are on a 17-month rent strike to force their landlord to make badly needed repairs (The New York Times)

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is offering up to $100,000 for qualified first-time homebuyers (press release)

Developers break ground at Archer Towers in Jamaica, Queens. It will include 605 mixed-income apartments and 20,000 square feet of amenities (press release)

An affordable housing lottery launches for 24 apartments in Longwood, the Bronx (New York YIMBY)

Just 50 miles from Times Square, you'll find Oak Island, an island of off-the-grid houses connected by a boardwalk (The New York Times)

Side hustle? A doorman was arrested for selling illegal firearms outside of the Midtown commercial building where he worked (New York Post)

Austin Havens-Bowen

Staff Writer

Staff writer Austin Havens-Bowen covers the rental market and answers renters' questions in a column called Realty Bites. He previously reported on local news for the Queens Ledger and The Hunts Point Express in the Bronx. He graduated from Hunter College with a BA in media studies. He rents a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria with his boyfriend and their two cats.

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