In an office building in downtown Manhattan, an 8-foot-long banner stretched across the length of a fluorescent-lit hallway. Five-inch-tall red letters indicated the location of an entrance to a ...

Basement apartments provide affordable housing options in crowded urban hubs like New York City, where the average rent for a Manhattan apartment is $4,140, according to RENTCafé data. But far too ...

When will we finally stop letting our neighbors die? Ten years ago, Hurricane Sandy struck the city and took the lives of 44 New Yorkers. Fast forward to one year ago, when Hurricane Ida claimed the ...

“Instead of turning a blind eye to the suffering of basement and cellar apartment dwellers, disproportionately low-income and from immigrant communities, we must find the political courage to face ...

Marlene Hernandez moved from her two-bedroom apartment in Bushwick to an illegal basement apartment in East New York two years ago out of necessity. “I simply couldn’t afford Bushwick anymore, I had ...

Q. In 2003, I submitted plans for a new home to the local building department that also included a one-bedroom basement apartment. I didn’t anticipate any difficulty with the procedure because the ...

‘In one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, people will continue to rent basement apartments whether they are legal or not. We need legalization to make them safe.’ New York ...

After several failed attempts by the city and state to legalize basement apartments, Comptroller Brad Lander has a plan based on another complicated apartment-conversion law. On Tuesday, Lander ...

A pilot program to convert illegal basement apartments in parts of Brooklyn into legal and safe units has just five active participants out of roughly 8,000 homeowners initially contacted, city ...

Basement apartments help alleviate the housing crunch in urban areas by providing affordable options. Illegal apartments that are not up to code can result in unsafe living conditions. As a landlord, ...