New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing renewed criticism over housing affordability as rents in Manhattan and Brooklyn hit record highs, with conservative commentators arguing that immigration-driven demand is adding pressure to an already tight rental market that the mayor campaigned to ease.
Manhattan’s and Brooklyns median rents reached $5,295 and $4,350, respectively, in June, according to an analysis conducted by the Corcoran Group, a real estate firm. The most recent available data shows roughly 38% of New Yorker residents were born outside the United States, and about 40% of rentals in the city are occupied by foreign-born individuals, though the data does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration status.
“You declared yourself a sanctuary city. You welcomed hundreds of thousands of illegals. Then you had to find places to put them,” conservative radio host Andrew Wilkow wrote on X, reacting to news of increased rents. “That put pressure on housing supply. Shortages create price increases. It’s pretty simple.”
BIDEN’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SURGE CAUSED HIGHER RENT AND HOME PRICES, FED STUDY FINDS
A 2003 paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that immigration “pushes up rents and housing values in destination cities,” with an immigration inflow equal to 1% of a citys population associated with about a 1% increase in average rents and housing values. More recently, a paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in March found that a 1% increase in illegal immigrants working in a given area corresponded to a 1.4% increase in rental prices because localities did not build enough new housing to match population growth.
Both papers reflect the authors findings and do not represent official positions of the Federal Reserve System or its regional banks.
“Young Americans compete for housing with millions of foreign arrivals,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, wrote on Monday in response to the rent data out of New York City.
Between 2020 and 2023, the most recent years available, the share of renter households associated with foreign-born New Yorkers rose from 37% to 40%, according to the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey. The data does not distinguish a resident’s legal status, making it unclear whether illegal immigrants represent an increased share of renters.
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, responding to news of rising rents on Sunday, recommended that the city rezone neighborhoods to allow more homebuilding, invest in affordable housing development, and cut construction regulations to increase housing supply and bring down costs.
Conservative lawyer Mike Davis responded to Levines recommendations by asking, “How about deporting illegals?”
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