By: Russ Spencer

In a stunning shift reflective of broader demographic and economic realignments across New York City, dozens of once-overlooked neighborhoods — long considered marginal or undesirable — have become unexpected epicenters of soaring home prices and upscale development. As The New York Post reported on Saturday, a new study from PropertyShark reveals that areas such as Two Bridges, Gerritsen Beach, and Breezy Point have witnessed home prices more than double over the past decade, transforming from real estate footnotes to marquee destinations.

Nowhere is this phenomenon more dramatic than in Two Bridges, the sliver of Lower Manhattan nestled between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. According to PropertyShark data highlighted in The New York Post report, median home sale prices in the area have surged by a staggering 288% — from $423,000 in 2014 to over $1.6 million in 2024. The driver behind this remarkable transformation? A wave of luxury developments, most notably One Manhattan Square, the waterfront skyscraper at 225 Cherry Street where penthouses rent for as much as $45,000 per month.

“Major high-end projects like this rapidly transformed the area,” Eliza Theiss, author of the report, told The Post. “Community resistance was overwhelmed by luxury expansion.” Once home to a more modest and predominantly working-class population, Two Bridges has become emblematic of the high-stakes collision between gentrification and historic neighborhood identity.

But the boom isn’t confined to Manhattan. The New York Post report noted that the sharpest median price increases have taken place in several of the city’s coastal and peninsular communities — areas that, just a decade ago, were grappling with the long-term devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

Breezy Point, perched at the westernmost tip of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, saw prices rise by 192%, from $248,000 in 2014 to $725,000 in 2024. Hamilton Beach, a relatively isolated stretch of land north of Jamaica Bay, experienced a similarly meteoric 172% rise in median home prices, jumping from $170,000 to $462,000.

According to Theiss, interviewed by The New York Post, the resurrection of these areas is closely tied to post-Sandy disaster recovery and environmental resiliency initiatives. “Disaster recovery efforts raised the neighborhoods’ safety and appeal,” she explained, noting that once-vulnerable communities became highly attractive to investors after major investments in flood protection and infrastructure.

The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated these trends. With the shift toward remote work reducing the premium once placed on public transit access, buyers began to seek more tranquil, spacious waterfront communities. Red Hook — long plagued by its inaccessibility and industrial reputation — surged in popularity. As The New York Post reported, the southern Brooklyn neighborhood’s median home sale price soared 150% over the decade, from $790,000 in 2014 to nearly $2 million in 2024.

Gerritsen Beach, a tight-knit working-class enclave between Gerritsen and Shell Bank creeks, has also reaped the rewards of changing market dynamics. Home values there climbed 136%, from $220,000 to $520,000. Theiss attributed part of this spike to the “spillover effect” from neighboring Marine Park and Sheepshead Bay, both of which have long been more popular with prospective buyers.

Yet amid the celebratory headlines of revitalization and growth, concerns over equity and displacement are growing louder. “Affordability is quickly vanishing,” Theiss told The New York Post, describing the changes as “increasingly polarizing.” As prices skyrocket, many legacy residents are being priced out of their own communities, raising questions about who these “recovered” neighborhoods are really for.

Indeed, the report does not paint an entirely rosy picture for all parts of the city. Seven New York City neighborhoods — six of them in Manhattan — experienced declines in median home sale prices between 2014 and 2024, a striking countercurrent in a city often defined by relentless price growth.

Tudor City, the historic enclave situated between East 40th and 43rd Streets, and First and Second Avenues, recorded the steepest decline. As The New York Post reported, prices in the area dropped by 17%, falling from $402,000 to $335,000 over the past decade. Theiss points to factors such as historical preservation restrictions, the small size of many units, and the neighborhood’s relative isolation from Manhattan’s commercial core.

Even in some of Manhattan’s most prestigious quarters, values have dipped. In SoHo, median home sale prices fell 6% — from $3.4 million to $3.2 million — while the Flatiron District saw a similar 6% drop, from $1.54 million to $1.48 million. The dichotomy is notable: while condo prices in these areas rose, the more modest co-ops declined, suggesting a bifurcation between ultra-wealthy buyers and middle-tier professionals.

The New York Post report said that these declines are not indicative of an overall real estate slump but rather a shifting of value and prestige across borough lines and away from traditionally dominant markets. The rise of once-neglected neighborhoods into real estate prominence represents a significant recalibration in how New Yorkers — and investors — define value.

That recalibration is being shaped as much by climate resilience, remote work, and urban planning as it is by market speculation. Coastal communities, once considered liabilities, are becoming luxury commodities. Neighborhoods once dismissed for their inaccessibility or blue-collar character are now the vanguard of real estate growth.

But for all the dazzling figures and architectural transformations, a more sobering reality lingers just beneath the surface — one that The New York Post and the PropertyShark report do not allow readers to ignore. As the city’s housing landscape undergoes seismic change, its most vulnerable residents face a stark question: Can they afford to stay?

In a city defined by movement and reinvention, the answer may determine not just the future of real estate, but the soul of New York itself.