An old(er) building in any neighborhood in Manhattan could mean a lot of money for upkeep/maintenance or bringing the building up to code. Definitely check the balance sheet and see how much of the rents are going to expenses.

>- What neighborhood?
>- What is target profile?
>- How many apartments are leased at current market rents?
>(Isn't NYC still under rent control?)
>- Tenure of Tenancy? IOWs, how many of the apts are under
>lease to the actual resident instead of a sublet?

I'm currently living in Midtown Manhattan and when I moved out here a couple of months ago, I didn't have a hard time finding an apartment. Rents are high($2100 for a large studio) compared to Bay Area, but New York has the best of everything. I've walked almost the entire island already and have seen very few undesirable neighborhoods(parts of Harlem, Alphabet City, parts of Chinatown, anywhere under/near a bridge). Most part of Manhattan are getting gentrified and there is a lot of construction and renovation taking place. I haven't encountered anyone who lives under Rent Control, so I can't comment much on that except that I'm sure it exists in more poor neighborhoods like Harlem or in the other four Boroughs.

This is especially true if you're in an older building and why it is important to know tenure of tenants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_New_York

As for the related costs of living the boroughs or uptown, rent control isn't limited to poorer areas. Often, because there is more transient movement in the poorer neighborhoods, rentals would probably run at a closer percentage to market rates compared to the more affluent areas where people tend to stay longer (and therefore effectly lower their rents).

In short, rent control doesn't work like Section 8 or other low income measures and those who benefit are often quite the opposite.