Rent along 2nd Ave. subway construction down 1.7%

UPPER EAST SIDE (WABC) -- If you are looking for a deal on an apartment to rent on the Upper East Side, consider something along 2nd Avenue. Rent is down there thanks to the subway construction.

The ad might read like this: "Spacious apartment in a great neighborhood, with good schools". But, here's the catch, and you can hear it.

The truth is, most residents who live near the Second Avenue subway construction would much rather move away from it than move close to it.

But, for 22-year-old Ashlee Reilly who moved to 69th and 2nd in August, there's a studio apartment which normally rents for about 1,800 a month that she's renting for just 1,450 a month.

"I have 10-foot ceiling so it's very nice. Separate kitchen, bathroom, everything," Reilly said.

Ashlee isn't the only one who got lucky.

According to real estate experts, they say there are similar deals near East 72nd Street and East 82nd Street.

"What we found is, there are mostly pockets of areas for certain periods," said Gordon Golub, CitiHabitats.

It's mostly because these 5-story trailers have sprouted up, taking up almost an entire block at various points.

If you have a window or balcony you're just feet away from what the workers call the "muck" house.

"It's horrible, you can't walk down the sidewalks, there are obstructions all over," said Madeline Kaplan, an Upper East Side tenant.

"I was sitting at the dining room table, that dynamite went off, my entire table shook," said Bea, and Upper East Side tenant.

According to one study on rent in the zone so to speak that is between 1st and 3rd Avenues between 64th and 96th Streets, the median rent has dropped 1.7%.

It's gone up in the other areas east of 1st Avenue and west of 3rd Avenue.

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new york city, upper east side, second avenue subway project, new york news, stacey sager

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