At Nike's NYC street race, where runners went head-to-head for rent money, affordability was top of mind

Luckily for the winners of Nike's thoroughfare race — and possibly Nike arsenic good — some salary little than $4,000 for their stock of rent successful New York City.

The sportswear elephantine was offering that much, which it described arsenic a month's rent, to 2 winners of a multi-heat thoroughfare title held successful New York City connected Saturday. That's little than the median monthly rental costs for a Manhattan apartment.

One winner, Destiny Scott, told Business Insider successful a post-race question and reply that she lives pinch her mother successful a "decent-sized" flat successful East Harlem. She said her stock of the rent is $1,000 a month.

"It tin thief retired arsenic rent gets much expensive," the 26-year-old said of the prize money.

The different winner, Akinola Raymond, said he pays $3,800 for a two-bedroom flat successful the East Village, meaning his winnings will conscionable hardly screen his adjacent cheque to the landlord.

Raymond said he lives pinch his fiancé. "We person a wedding successful 2 weeks," he said, "so having that prize money helped america a lot."

Saturday's race, held connected Orchard Street successful Manhattan's Lower East Side, drew dozens of runners consenting to sweat it retired successful the precocious summertime sun for a chance astatine winning immoderate rent money.

The title resembled a artifact statement punctuated by bursts of activity arsenic runners bounded down the pavement successful different heats of 100-meter dashes and 400-meter relays. Hundreds of spectators lined the sidewalks and shouted wildly during the races.

Nike billed the title arsenic a chance to find who was the fastest successful New York, pinch the distinctly New York inducement of rent arsenic a prize.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made lowering the city's lodging costs a centerpiece of his administration. His signature rent frost for astir 1 cardinal rent-stabilized apartments takes effect this fall, while City Hall is pursuing a broader scheme to build and sphere 200,000 affordable homes complete the adjacent decade.

The title came arsenic Nike tries to recapture immoderate of the taste cachet it has mislaid successful caller years. CEO Elliott Hill, a Nike seasoned who returned to lead the institution successful 2024, has been moving to refocus the marque connected sports, rebuild relationships pinch retailers, and revive merchandise invention aft years of losing crushed to competitors for illustration Hoka and On.

For some spectators, though, $4,000 didn't look for illustration overmuch fixed the costs of lodging successful New York.

Favio Quizhpi, a 40-year-old constabulary serviceman who lives successful Queens, said the prize was a bully inducement but that Nike was "lowballing it."

"$4,000 would beryllium nice, but depending connected wherever you unrecorded successful the city, that mightiness not beryllium enough," he said.

Quizhpi said Nike should person "offered measurement higher."

"They're Nike, they're a billion-dollar corporation," he said. "They tin spend that."

Astor Singh, a 25-year-old connection marketer who lives successful Brooklyn, vanished 3rd successful his preliminary group but didn't make the podium. He said the imaginable of winning rent money appealed to young New Yorkers for illustration him.

"As personification successful my mid-20s who's beautiful early successful the master world still, it honestly catered straight to my life," Singh said.

Singh grew up successful Queens and Long Island earlier moving backmost to New York astir a twelvemonth ago. He said rising lodging costs aren't an abstraction for him.

"I person family retired present who are getting slow pushed out," he said, adding that he'd watched gentrification reshape neighborhoods he knew increasing up.