Brian Lear on WNYC, no doubt that housing is one of the top issues facing New York City.

As of this year, the city has become the most expensive city to live in in the country,

according to CNBC, with housing costs at the crux of this unaffordability crisis.

Currently in Manhattan, the median rent for a studio apartment is $3,400.

Another stat, only 2% of Manhattan apartments, rent for under $2,000,

both stats coming from the five borough report, which we're about to talk about.

Even those who have a steady income from a professional job can find these costs

to be far out of reach, as many of you know too well.

And the results of this lack of affordable housing have led to the city

hitting another devastating milestone.

As of June of this year, the city hit a record number of 100,000 people sleeping in homeless shelters.

Meanwhile, the prevalence of remote work since the pandemic year has created another issue

in real estate in this city.

Office buildings and our busiest commercial districts are much emptier than they've ever been.

This seems like an opportunity to fix two issues perhaps.

Well, the New York City think tank called Five Barrow Institute has released a report

promoting a pilot project to convert these empty offices into communal living spaces.

Joining us now to share how this kind of plan could work in the context of our city

is Grace Rao, executive director of the think tank Five Barrow Institute

and Howard Slatkin, executive director at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council.

Grace, welcome back, Howard, welcome to WNYC. Hello.

Hi, Brian, thanks for having us.

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