New Manhattan Housing Lottery Has $1K Apartments

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Hell's Kitchen has 133 apartments with rents starting at $1,031 up for grabs as part of a new local housing lottery on Housing Connect.

The apartment building, located at 509 W 48th St. near 10th Avenue, includes a gym, a laundry room, internet, and a ground-floor arts and community space, according to the Housing Connect listing. The building is also located next to a new public open space.

But wait — what is Housing Connect?

For the uninitiated, New York City Housing Connect is an online platform that lists residential buildings across the five boroughs currently accepting applications for apartments, with both leasing and purchasing opportunities.

The website, which launched in 2013, aims to provide New Yorkers with opportunities for affordable prices on apartments in new developments.

However, there is a catch: Your total income and family size need to fit within a certain range to be eligible to apply to the housing lottery, and each lottery has different income restrictions, based on a measurement called Area Median Income, which you can calculate here.

The building, called Rialto West, is renting 133 apartments from $1,031 to $4,843 for individuals and families making between $39,155 and $294,560.

There's usually a certain number of units in each lottery set aside for people with disabilities, workers employed by the city, or people already based in the community board district where the building is located.

At Rialto West, 5 percent of the units are set aside for people with mobility disabilities, and 2 percent of the units are set aside for people with vision or hearing disabilities.

Also, 20 percent of the available units are set aside for people who live nearby in the Community Board 4 district. Another 10 percent of the units will give preference to applications from city employees and veterans.

Once users apply for an eligible unit, they are issued a log number, and then the numbers are chosen at random by an automated system, lottery-style. The lottery for this location is open until July 20.

To see all of the apartments in the lottery, click here.