New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board has fulfilled a campaign promise by Mayor Zohran Mamdani by voting 7-1 for freezing rent increases on the one- and two-year leases for nearly one million rent-regulated apartments.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the freeze covers leases that begin on or after Oct. 1. Mamdani quickly celebrated the vote by declaring, “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.”
The vote came after Christina Smyth, a landlord and lawyer, resigned her membership on the board. Smyth stated the vote’s result was already “decided last year on the campaign trail” and solidified when the mayor appointed six new members in February.
“This rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze,” she said. “Everything since has been theater.”
Real estate groups criticized the rent freeze. New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos issued a statement that said, “Our message is clear: This freeze will destroy the living conditions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.”
James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said, “The Rent Guidelines Board ignored its own data and made a terrible decision tonight. Older rent-stabilized buildings are already struggling under rising operating costs, yet the Board chose to disregard those realities. This decision will mean less investment in maintenance and repairs, accelerating the deterioration of the housing stock that millions of New Yorkers call home. Tonight’s vote may be politically popular, but it will make New York’s housing crisis worse.”
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