CT Lawyer
The vast majority of basement apartments in NYC are illegal and do not have a Certificate of Occupancy for them. You may find a legal studio for $1,400 per month anything less is just a come on by the broker to get customers to sign up with him. I am not a lawyer but there will be problems if the apartment is rent stabilized ( below market rental )and the tenant on the lease moves out temporarily (3-6 months)such as to a rehabilitation facility. The landlord is going to try to evict as he will claim it’s an illegal sublet this is so he can raise the rent for the new tenant.
Rent is very high in NYC. A lot of Hasidim are moving to Jersey City which is a lot cheaper and offers easy access to NYC via the tunnel or PATH their mass transit system.
When I was looking to by a house many of the houses substandard electrical structural problems even though they had certificate of Occupancy every couple of years they catch the building inspectors accepting bribes. The first thing is make sure the smoke detector works and know the escape exits, making sure that you always have a clear path to exit the building. You will be surprised how many times i have found things there and you may even be able to squeeze through but in your haste you may knock it over and trip.The few seconds it take to get up maybe the difference between life and death.