Queens bucks the trend: New apartments grow bigger despite NYC’s space crunch
Queens is the only New York City borough where new apartment sizes have increased over the last decade, bucking the national trend of shrinking urban living spaces. While Manhattan and Brooklyn apartments have become smaller or remained stagnant, Queens has seen a modest growth in square footage.
Why it matters
This trend highlights shifting urban development strategies and changing housing demands in high-density markets where developers balance unit availability with space efficiency.
Queens is the only New York City borough where new apartments have increased in size over the past decade, according to a RentCafe analysis tracking apartment sizes across the 100 largest US cities.The typical new apartment in Queens now measures 732 square feet, up 16 square feet from a decade ago. The increase also puts Queens fifth nationally for the biggest gains in apartment size during that period, according to the analysis cited by the New York Post.Queens' growth has outpaced the national increase of 13 square feet. However, the borough still ranks among the smaller apartment markets in the US.Brooklyn, Manhattan apartments remain smallerBrooklyn has moved in the opposite direction.
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