Open thread: How has your rent changed since you moved to NYC?

Welcome to Friday Open Threads, wherein we’ll pass the mic to readers to speak up about topics of interest, distress, horror, etc. Have something you want discussed? Let us know.

Every so often, a new study confirms the obvious: New York is the most expensive place to rent an apartment in the country. This time, it’s from RentCafe, which found that the average rent in Manhattan is now a staggering $4,116/month, outpacing pricey cities like San Francisco ($3,516/month) and Boston ($3,374/month) but a large margin.

But even as our rents make waves nationally, at home, the story is a bit different: Rents are actually decreasing, according to the various market reports released by NYC brokerages; the drops are small, to be sure—one percent here, less than that there—but it’s still something.

And if you’ve moved at any point in the past two years, there’s a good chance you’ve benefited from concessions, like a month or two of free rent—those have consistently been used by landlords as sweeteners for new tenants.

More change is also on the horizon for rent-stabilized tenants, who are due to see increases once the new hikes passed by the Rent Guidelines Board—of up to 2.75 percent on one-year leases, and up to 3.75 percent on two-year ones.

The roller-coaster that is NYC’s rental market has us wondering: How has your rent changed over the course of your years in NYC? (And please, don’t just say “up”—be specific!) Have you seen dramatic increases in your neighborhood? Has anyone actually had their rent go down? We want to hear about it—sound off in the comments.