Moving Day (New York City)

Moving Day in Little Old New York, satirical painting, c.1827

Moving Day was a tradition in New York City dating back to colonial times and lasting until after World War II. On February 1, sometimes known as "Rent Day", landlords would give notice to their tenants what the new rent would be after the end of the quarter,[1] and the tenants would spend good-weather days in the early spring searching for new houses and the best deals.[2] On May 1,[3] all leases in the city expired simultaneously at 9:00 am, causing thousands of people to change their residences, all at the same time.[4][5]

Local legend has it that the tradition began because May 1 was the day the first Dutch settlers set out for Manhattan,[6] but The Encyclopedia of New York City links it instead to the English celebration of May Day.[7] While it may have originated as a custom, the tradition took force of law by an 1820 act of the New York State Legislature, which mandated that if no other date was specified, all housing contracts were valid to the first of May[8][9] – unless the day fell on a Sunday, in which case the deadline was May 2.[10]

  1. ^ Staff (February 13, 1854) "Facetious Landlords" The New York Times
  2. ^ Staff (April 30, 1873 "May Day: A History of Moving Day" The New York Times)
  3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary quoted at "Big Apple: Moving Day (May 1st)
  4. ^ Straight Dope
  5. ^ Staff (May 2, 1873) "Moving Day in Brooklyn" The New York Times
  6. ^ Gelfand, et al. (2007), "Origins of Moving Day" Archived February 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine p.2
  7. ^ *Erickson, Alana J. "Moving Day" in Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300055366.
  8. ^ (State), New York; Strong, Elisha B. (1821). "Laws of New York, April 13, 1820, Sec. 4". Retrieved August 7, 2015.;the law was repealed in 1828
  9. ^ Staff (May 2, 1856) "Moving-Day" The New York Times
  10. ^ Staff (May 1, 1881) "Many Families Moving" The New York Times