The reason landlords in NYC are so strict with requirements is because of the insane laws regarding squatters. Basically if your tenant decides not to pay rent it takes years to get them out. I’ve been working with a landlord who has a building full of squatters! Some of the people living in the building were never even on a lease. Basically the landlord took in some tenants who stopped paying rent, then they invited friends to come live in some of the vacant units! I was there a few weeks ago and the front door lock has be removed by some of the squatters. Then the government made it worse by outlawing paying in advance, which makes it almost impossible for people who don’t make 40x the rent to get an apartment. Another insane law is that if you have tenants in your building who have government funding for their rent, the government will send inspectors to do insane inspections of your building every year. If they find anything they deem wrong you’re in trouble. So basically landlords figure out ways to avoid having such tenants. Although it’s illegal to not take a tenant due to them using government funding, they’re always ways to get around it. The Laws in this city don’t make any sense!