Riverdale Renter's Guide: Housing and Transit

Renting in Riverdale usually means an apartment in a large postwar elevator building, and more often than not that building is a co-op. Most homes are not next to a subway station, so you will rely on the 1 train along Broadway, Metro-North's Hudson Line, express buses to Manhattan or a car, depending on the block.

This guide uses the city's PLUTO land-use data and MTA station data to show what the housing stock looks like and how far homes actually are from rail. It then covers what to check for a co-op rental and a car-light commute.

What the housing looks like

Riverdale looks like a neighborhood of houses on a map: 62% of residential lots hold one-family homes and 19% hold two-family homes. But three out of four homes are in elevator buildings, almost all of them large.

In practice that means two very different rental markets. About 11% of homes are in one- and two-family houses, where rent stabilization does not apply and Good Cause Eviction often does not either, because HPD exempts owners of 10 or fewer units statewide and owner-occupied buildings of 10 or fewer apartments. Nearly four in five homes are in buildings of 50 or more units, where the key question is whether the building is a co-op, a condo or a rental. Buildings of three to 49 units hold only about 11% of homes.

The apartment stock is mostly postwar. By PLUTO's year-built field, 65% of homes are in buildings from 1950–1979, 16% from 1930–1949 and about 8% from before 1930. Roughly 11% are in buildings from 1980 or later. Year built in PLUTO is often approximate.

Historic districts and private enclaves

Two city historic districts cover parts of Riverdale's house blocks. The Riverdale Historic District (designated October 16, 1990) follows seven original estates linked by a carriage alley that is now Sycamore Avenue. The Fieldston Historic District (designated January 10, 2006) covers about 257 houses and related structures. The LPC report says Fieldston was planned as a private residential park, and that residents formed the Fieldston Property Owners Association in 1923 to keep it private. In PLUTO, 256 residential lots in the neighborhood are in the Fieldston district and 27 in the Riverdale district.

These are mostly single-family areas. If you rent a house or a floor of a house there, ask the owner how street parking and any association rules affect tenants.

Getting around without a subway at the door

By straight-line distance, only about 27% of Riverdale homes are within half a mile of a subway station, and 76% are within a mile. Counting Metro-North stations as well raises the half-mile share to about 51%. Your options:

Express buses and Metro-North cost more than a subway ride. Add the real monthly cost to your rent with the commute cost vs rent calculator. If you will keep a car, ask whether the building has a garage, what it costs and how long the waitlist is.

Renting a co-op apartment

About half of Riverdale homes are in co-op buildings, so a lot of rentals are sublets from shareholders.

• Expect board review. Ask for the building's sublet policy, fees, approval timeline and any limit on how long sublets can run. See co-op sublet rules.
• Get the approval in writing before you move in or pay rent.
• Good Cause Eviction does not apply to homes in co-op and condo buildings, according to HPD.
• Rent stabilization generally does not apply to a new renter of a shareholder's unit. The Rent Guidelines Board notes that tenants who were already living in a building when it converted to a co-op usually keep their protections.
• The deposit cap still applies. A landlord renting to you cannot take more than one month's rent as a deposit (NY GOL §7-108).

For the full picture, read renting a condo or co-op unit.

Renting in a rental building

About 19% of Riverdale homes are in non-co-op, non-condo buildings with six or more units built before 1974, the basic profile for rent stabilization. Confirm with the rent-stabilized checker and an HCR rent history request. In older elevator buildings, ask about elevator outages, the heating system and past heat complaints.

Heat and hot water

In a big building you usually cannot control the heat yourself, so check the building's record. HPD's rules require, from October 1 to May 31, at least 68°F indoors from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. when it is below 55°F outside, at least 62°F overnight regardless of the outdoor temperature, and hot water of at least 120°F all year. Look up past heat complaints for the address and use the heat season temperature checker if your apartment runs cold.

Broker fees

Under the FARE Act, in effect since June 11, 2025, a broker who represents the landlord cannot charge you a fee. If a listing asks you to pay a broker, ask in writing who hired that broker. If you did not hire them, you should not be paying them. See do I owe a broker fee? and the broker fee checker.

Checks before you sign

1. 1

   Look up the building

   Search the address on Roofy (/nyc) for building class, year built, units and open violations.
2. 2

   Confirm the rental type

   Co-op sublet, condo, rental building or house. This decides approval steps and protections.
3. 3

   Map your commute

   Measure the walk to the 1 train, Metro-North or an express bus stop, following real streets.
4. 4

   Price parking if you drive

   Ask about garage cost and waitlists, and street parking rules on the block.
5. 5

   Get board approval in writing

   For co-op sublets, approval comes before keys.
6. 6

   Total your first payment

   Deposit (max one month), first month and any building fees.