{"id":460007,"date":"2025-12-20T12:25:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/460007\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T12:25:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T12:25:36","slug":"adams-rgb-appointments-could-block-mamdanis-rent-freeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/460007\/","title":{"rendered":"Adams\u2019 RGB appointments could block Mamdani&#8217;s rent freeze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With less than two weeks left in office, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced four appointments and reappointments to the city\u2019s Rent Guidelines Board, a move that could complicate Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to freeze rents for more than 1 million stabilized apartments.<\/p>\n<p>Adams reappointed Arpit Gupta, a finance professor at NYU Stern, and Christina Smyth, the founder and owner of a real estate law firm. He also appointed Lliam Finn, a senior financial advisor, and Sagar Sharma, deputy director at Legal Services NYC. The appointments take effect this week.<\/p>\n<p><b>What You Need To Know<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mayor Eric Adams appointed four members to the Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday, with just two weeks left in office<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>The Rent Guidelines Board will now have a majority of five Adams appointees, who may favor rent hikes<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Tenant advocates and the Legal Aid Society said the move could undermine a rent freeze, a core principle of Mamdani\u2019s campaign<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li>Mamdani\u2019s transition team, however, still vows to pursue a four-year rent freeze despite appointments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nine-member board, which makes decisions about rent increases for stabilized apartments, will now have five members appointed by Adams \u2014 a majority that could sway the board to follow landlord cost data rather than grant a rent freeze for tenants, a cornerstone of Mamdani\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re using every tool in our toolbox to tackle our city\u2019s housing crisis, and that includes appointing smart, seasoned experts to the city\u2019s Rent Guidelines Board,\u201d Adams said in a statement. \u201cThese respected appointees bring decades of experience in the housing sector and I am confident they will serve as responsible stewards of our city\u2019s housing stock, using facts and data to reach the right decision for both tenants and property owners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tenant advocates reacted strongly to the news, with the New York State Tenants Bloc saying residents would \u201cfight alongside Mayor-elect Mamdani to secure a rent freeze in June.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re getting our rent freeze. Over 1 million New Yorkers just voted for a mayor who will freeze the rent,\u201d Sumathy Kumar, managing director of the group, said in a statement. \u201cAnd landlord profits are up 12%, while we\u2019re forced to choose between paying the rent and paying for groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Legal Aid Society also condemned the last-minute appointments, saying that under Adams, the board approved rent increases every year for a cumulative increase of 12%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese new appointments threaten to lock in yet another rent increase, precisely when families across the city are struggling to make ends meet,\u201d the organization said. \u201cA rent freeze is not a political luxury \u2014 it is a lifeline for countless New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement Friday, Mamdani\u2019s transition team said it remains committed to enacting a freeze.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are just as committed to a four-year rent freeze for the more than two million rent-stabilized tenants who call this city home and deserve relief amidst this affordability crisis. We will use all the tools at our disposal to deliver it and last-minute appointments do not change these facts,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With less than two weeks left in office, Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced four appointments and reappointments&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":460008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,23600,13565,7448,23599,7065,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,52,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-460007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-app-housing","10":"tag-app-local-state-politics","11":"tag-app-top-stories","12":"tag-erica-brosnan","13":"tag-housing","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115751886787944108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}