Williamsburg Renter's Guide: Housing and Transit

Williamsburg is really two housing markets: prewar walk-ups and rowhouses on the side streets, and a wave of new buildings that followed the 2005 rezoning of the waterfront and nearby blocks. In city data, 44% of homes are in buildings dated 1900–1939 and 46% are in buildings built in 2000 or later, with almost nothing in between.

That split shapes what you should check. In an older walk-up, the questions are heat, lead paint and rent-stabilization status. In a new building, they are the Certificate of Occupancy, 421-a status and whether Good Cause Eviction applies. The numbers below are Roofy's analysis of the city's PLUTO tax-lot file for the Department of City Planning's “Williamsburg” neighborhood tabulation area (NTA), which covers the north side. South Williamsburg is a separate NTA.

Housing age: the gap that tells the story

What changed in 2005

1. October 2004

   Rezoning proposed

   The Department of City Planning put forward zoning changes to allow housing and open space along two miles of the Greenpoint and Williamsburg East River waterfront and upland areas.

2. May 11, 2005

   City Council adopts it

   The rezoning covered nearly 200 blocks in Greenpoint and Williamsburg and included an Inclusionary Housing program to promote affordable units.

3. March 1, 2006

   Follow-up changes adopted

   Further zoning text and map changes, including contextual height limits on about 19 upland blocks in Williamsburg, took effect.

The plan also laid out a public waterfront esplanade and a new waterfront park. The new buildings that followed help explain why nearly a third of homes in the NTA date from 2010 or later.

Building types

Most lots are small: 1,629 of 2,809 hold five or fewer apartments, and the most common building class is C0, a three-family walk-up. But most homes are in the 408 buildings with 20 or more units. Walk-ups (class C) hold 30% of homes and elevator buildings (class D) 31%. Only one small historic district, Fillmore Place, falls inside the NTA.

South Williamsburg (12,653 homes on 1,759 lots) leans smaller: a quarter of its homes are in three- to five-unit buildings, and its most common building class is also C0. It has more homes from 1974–1999 (20%) and fewer from 2010 on (15%) than the north side. If you are searching both, expect a larger share of small-building rentals in South Williamsburg and more large new buildings in the Williamsburg NTA.

Old walk-up or new building?

Among buildings with six or more apartments built since 2000, condo buildings hold about half the homes (7,469) and elevator rental buildings most of the rest (6,872); walk-ups hold under 4%. So a new-building rental here may well be a condo unit rented out by its owner (see renting a condo or co-op unit).

Good Cause Eviction's new-construction exemption is a big deal here. HPD says homes built on or after January 1, 2009 are exempt until 30 years after the certificate of occupancy (temporary or permanent) was issued. A building completed in 2015 would not be covered until 2045. Condo and co-op units, and units owned by a small landlord with 10 or fewer units, are also exempt. Check with does Good Cause cover my apartment.

How many homes could be rent stabilized?

HCR says rent stabilization generally covers buildings built after 1947 and before 1974, apartments that left rent control, and buildings receiving J-51, 421-a or 421-g benefits. By the basic test for older buildings (six or more units, built before 1974, not a co-op or condo), 31% of homes in the Williamsburg NTA are in candidate buildings, compared with 20% in South Williamsburg. That test leaves out newer 421-a buildings, which can also have stabilized units, so the real share of stabilized apartments could be higher or lower. Only HCR's rent history answers it for a specific apartment.

Lead paint is the other old-building issue. In the Williamsburg NTA, 45% of homes are in buildings with three or more apartments dated before 1960, the group NYC's lead law covers. If a child under six lives with you or spends 10 or more hours a week in the apartment, tell the landlord and return the annual notice; HPD says it is due by February 16.

Getting around

Bedford Av and Lorimer St on the L are the only Manhattan-bound subway stations inside the NTA; the J, M and Z along Broadway and the ferry are the other ways in. NYC Ferry's East River route splits into A and B routes at weekday peak hours and on non-winter weekends, with North Williamsburg on the A and South Williamsburg on the B.

What to check before you sign

1. 1

   New building: the CO

   Look up the Certificate of Occupancy on the DOB website. If the building is on a Temporary CO, it has been found safe to occupy with items still open, and TCOs typically expire after 90 days unless renewed. See reading a CO.
2. 2

   New building: 421-a status

   If your apartment is stabilized because of 421-a, HPD says the lease must include a rider saying so and giving the approximate date the benefit ends. Ask for it. See 421-a and rent stabilization and the 421-a expiry calculator.
3. 3

   Concessions

   New buildings often quote a net effective rent after free months. Run the net effective rent calculator so you know the rent on the lease.
4. 4

   Older walk-up: heat and lead

   From October 1 to May 31, apartments must reach 68°F by day when it is below 55°F outside and 62°F at night. NYC's lead law covers buildings with three or more units built before 1960. See heat rules and lead paint rights.
5. 5

   Older walk-up: gas and stabilization

   Williamsburg is in Brooklyn Community District 1, where Local Law 152 gas piping inspections were due in 2024 and are next due in 2028. For six-plus-unit prewar buildings, use the rent-stabilized checker and request the rent history from HCR.

Finally, look up the address on Roofy, read it with this guide to building pages, confirm who pays the broker with the FARE Act checker, and browse current rentals.