{"id":781949,"date":"2026-05-08T12:43:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781949\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T12:43:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T12:43:27","slug":"nyc-board-opens-door-to-mamdani-rent-freeze-but-also-leaves-rent-hikes-on-the-table-in-preliminary-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781949\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC board opens door to Mamdani rent freeze, but also leaves rent hikes on the table in preliminary vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board advanced preliminary rent ranges on Thursday evening that could allow a freeze for the city\u2019s more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants \u2014 but left open the possibility of another increase, setting up a June vote that will test Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s<\/a> central campaign promise.<\/p>\n

The board voted to consider increases of 0% to 2% on one-year leases and 0% to 4% on two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments and lofts. The final vote is scheduled for June 25, with four public hearings in between.<\/p>\n

The preliminary range is far lower than what advanced under former Mayor Eric Adams \u2014 yet the outcome of the May 7 vote satisfied neither side.\n<\/p>\n

Tenant organizers said the preliminary rent ranges fell short of what they wanted amid the rising cost of living, while landlord groups said the board ignored the data on rising operating costs and financial distress in older, heavily rent-stabilized buildings.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s vote was the first major test of Mamdani\u2019s rent-freeze pledge since he appointed five new members and reappointed tenant representative Ad\u00e1n Soltren earlier this year, giving his selections a majority of the nine-member board.<\/p>\n

In a statement after the preliminary vote, Mamdani did not explicitly call on the board to approve a June freeze, having publicly cooled on the \u201crent freeze\u201d calls since taking office.\n<\/p>\n

Yet Mamdani stressed that New Yorkers are being \u201ccrushed by the cost of living,\u201d and said he was encouraged that the board was taking seriously \u201cthe data around affordability, operating expenses, and the pressures facing both tenants and small property owners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the RGB begins its public hearings, tenants, owners, and New Yorkers from every borough should make their voices heard and speak directly to what this housing crisis looks like in their lives,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cI\u2019m confident the Board will weigh those perspectives carefully and arrive at a decision later this summer that reflects the urgency of this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tenants and owners offer their own rent proposals<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s vote came after it rejected proposals from both tenant and owner representatives.\n<\/p>\n

As the raucous meeting got underway in the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Soltren proposed a rollback range of -3% to 0% for one-year leases and -4.5% to 0% for two-year leases. The proposal failed.<\/p>\n

Owner representative Christina Smyth later proposed increases of 3% to 5.5% for one-year leases and 6% to 8% for two-year leases. That motion also failed.\n<\/p>\n

The board then approved the 0% to 2% and 0% to 4% ranges, preserving the possibility of a rent freeze at the final vote but also allowing for increases.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Tenant organizers and landlord representatives had gathered early ahead of the meeting, previewing the fight that will continue through public hearings. Inside the auditorium, some tenant advocates chanted for rent rollbacks and shouted over parts of the meeting, growing louder after Soltren\u2019s rollback proposal failed.<\/p>\n

The rollback demand was tied to anger over rent increases approved during the Adams era. Tenant members and advocates have repeatedly pointed to rent hikes totaling about 12% over four years.\n<\/p>\n

The new preliminary range marks a sharp break from the Adams-era boards. In 2024, the Adams-appointed board advanced preliminary ranges of 2% to 4.5% for one-year leases and 4% to 6.5% for two-year leases. Last year, the board approved final increases of 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases.<\/p>\n

Boards appointed under former Mayor Bill de Blasio previously froze rents three times, including during the pandemic.\n<\/p>\n

Tenants see a breakthrough<\/p>\n

Tenant groups cast Thursday\u2019s vote as a breakthrough, while saying the board must go further. The NYS Tenant Bloc pointed to Soltren\u2019s rollback proposal as evidence that tenant organizing had changed the terms of the debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen tenants get organized, participate in the political process, and use their political power, we can win,\u201d said Sumathy Kumar, director of the NYS Tenant Bloc.
\n\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

The Legal Aid Society also praised the board for including a possible freeze in the preliminary range, but said it was disappointed that increases remained on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmid a historic affordability crisis and growing economic uncertainty, we commend the Board for including an outright rent freeze among the proposed rent adjustment options for rent-stabilized apartments, lofts, and hotels,\u201d the group said. \u201cHowever, we are disappointed that the Board also included potential rent increases in the proposed ranges, despite the Board\u2019s own data strongly supporting the need for a rent freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal Aid pointed to board reports showing continued landlord profits and a 20.4% increase in the market value of buildings made up entirely of rent-stabilized units, after adjusting for inflation. The group said any increase would hurt working-class and low-income tenants who have already endured four consecutive years of hikes.<\/p>\n

Tenant organizers said they plan to keep pressing the board before the final vote. In an interview after the meeting, Matt, a member of Full Time Tenant Union, told amNewYork rent-stabilized tenants need relief after years of increases amid growing financial pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cRent stabilized tenants need relief, not another increase,\u201d he said, adding that he and other advocates would continue pushing for a rollback. He said a freeze would be the minimum acceptable outcome for many tenants, but argued that even that would not fully address the burden renters face.<\/p>\n

Landlords say board ignored reality<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Landlord groups sharply criticized the preliminary vote, saying the board was ignoring its own data on operating costs and the financial condition of older rent-stabilized buildings.\n<\/p>\n

Basha Gerhards, executive vice president of public policy at the Real Estate Board of New York, said the board\u2019s preliminary ranges \u201cignore the clear financial distress shown in the data.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWith operating costs rising and conditions worsening across older, majority rent-stabilized buildings, a freeze or near-freeze is unjustifiable,\u201d Gerhards said. \u201cThe Board has a statutory obligation to consider the financial viability of these buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small Property Owners of New York also condemned the vote. Ann Korchak, the group\u2019s board president, called it \u201creckless and irresponsible,\u201d saying the board was violating its mandate to objectively analyze data and preserve rent-stabilized housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis vote instead continues a decade-long pattern of defunding privately owned rent-stabilized housing stock and clearly surrenders to City Hall\u2019s political pressure,\u201d Korchak said.\n<\/p>\n

Korchak said the board\u2019s data is distorted because it combines older, financially distressed, majority-stabilized buildings with newer or more profitable buildings that have few stabilized units. She called on the board to provide separate rent orders for buildings constructed before 1973.<\/p>\n

The New York Apartment Association also blasted the vote. The group pointed to the RGB\u2019s 2026 Price Index of Operating Costs report, which included an illustrative formula yielding increases of 4.5% on one-year leases and 8.5% on two-year leases under a CPI-adjusted net operating income method. The report cautioned that those formulas are illustrative and \u201cdo not constitute staff or Board recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis range is an example of politics over people,\u201d said Kenny Burgos, the group\u2019s CEO. \u201cThe final vote impacts hundreds of thousands of tenants and owners. Politics has pitted the two groups against each other as if they\u2019re not all New Yorkers who are investing in their communities and seeking the same thing: the means to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burgos said rent is needed to maintain buildings, not simply to generate owner income.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cAn owner\u2019s ability to pay for operating costs should matter to every tenant,\u201d he said. \u201cRent isn\u2019t going into the pockets of rent-stabilized owners, it\u2019s going into keeping the buildings standing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Board\u2019s own data shows the pains of rising costs<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell \"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

The competing reactions reflect the split in the board\u2019s own data.\n<\/p>\n

The RGB\u2019s 2026 Price Index of Operating Costs found that owner costs for buildings with rent-stabilized apartments rose 5.3%, including an 11% increase in fuel costs and a 10.5% rise in insurance costs. The same report said the index is designed to measure costs paid by owners to operate and maintain buildings with rent-stabilized units, and does not quantify costs paid by tenants.<\/p>\n

Other RGB data presented this spring gave tenant advocates their own figures to cite. The board\u2019s mortgage survey found that the average price per unit sold rose 10.5% citywide in buildings with stabilized units, and that prices for buildings made up entirely of stabilized units rose 20.4%.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s 2026 Income and Expense Study also found that net operating income rose 6.2% from 2023 to 2024 for buildings with at least one stabilized unit, while collected rent rose 4.8%, total income rose 4.9% and operating costs rose 4.2%. But the same report showed weaker net operating income growth in buildings with larger shares of rent-stabilized units, including 2.4% growth in fully stabilized buildings and 1.4% growth in fully stabilized pre-1974 buildings.<\/p>\n

The debate has also drawn scrutiny because of Mamdani\u2019s push to increase public participation in the RGB process.
\n\"\"Photo by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

Mamdani made a rent freeze a centerpiece of his campaign, but has since stressed that the RGB is an independent body. Last month, Mamdani launched Organize NYC, an initiative through the city\u2019s Office of Mass Engagement aimed at getting more tenants and owners to testify before the board.<\/p>\n

The mayor has said the effort is not intended to tell people what to say. At the April 29 launch, he said canvassers would ask residents whether they knew whether their apartments were rent-stabilized and whether they would testify. He also said the effort would include outreach to landlords.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about telling New Yorkers what they should say,\u201d Mamdani said at the launch. \u201cThis is about ensuring that everyday New Yorkers are as involved in the processes as the impact that these processes will have on their day-to-day lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landlord groups have questioned whether City Hall\u2019s organizing effort amounts to political pressure on a board that is supposed to operate independently. Mamdani has said he values the board\u2019s independence and that canvassers will not encourage any specific testimony.<\/p>\n

The landlord criticism also comes less than a month after Mamdani\u2019s administration unveiled a city-backed insurance program for affordable and rent-stabilized housing, acknowledging that insurance costs for that stock had more than tripled since 2017.<\/p>\n

City Hall said the program could reduce costs for 20,000 homes by 2027 and 100,000 homes by 2030, but some small-owner groups questioned whether relief would arrive quickly enough or reach the private owners most under strain.<\/p>\n

The board will hold four public hearings before the final vote: June 4 at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens, June 8 at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, June 11 at City Tech in Brooklyn and June 16 at Symphony Space in Manhattan. Written, audio and video comments, meanwhile, will be accepted from May 14 through June 16.<\/p>\n

The final RGB decision comes on June 25.
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