Who does the city Rent Guidelines Board thinks it\u2019s fooling by pretending it\u2019s not rushing to make good on Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s \u201cfreeze the rent\u201d promises?<\/p>\n
Mamdani pretends that freeze for the million or so apartments covered by the state Rent Stabilization laws will enhance affordability and improve New Yorkers\u2019 quality of life, but in fact it will hasten the deterioration of the city\u2019s most vulnerable housing stock and push unprofitable units right off the market.<\/p>\n
In the first stage of this dance, the RGB indicated Thursday that it is \u201cprepared\u201d to allow rent hikes<\/a> in a range from 0% to 2% for one-year renewals, and from 0% to 4% for two-year leases; it\u2019ll be another round or three of pretend-deliberation before it does what the mayor wants.<\/p>\n But the process is already a joke: To get to those ranges, the board had to cook the books<\/a>, and even completely ignore its own data, which shows that non-optional costs for building owners \u2014 fuel, insurance, utilities, taxes and labor \u2014 are rising far faster than even its high-end 4% prospective rent limit.<\/p>\n That is: The rents on ever-growing numbers of apartments won\u2019t come close to covering the costs of maintaining those units.<\/p>\n Which means landlords will have to spend less on maintaining those apartments and those buildings.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n Some may sell, or lose their buildings<\/a> through foreclosure or abandonment, go bankrupt so the building gets sold, but any new owners will face the same ugly math.<\/p>\n Ever-more units, ever-more whole buildings, will become unlivable, or controlled by the most unscrupulous sort of slumlords \u2014 or perhaps by Mamdani-favored nonprofits that won\u2019t be able to make two plus two equal five. <\/p>\n But the mayor has already appointed a majority of the board, and the rest know how the game is played: Pure politics ensure the RGB will opt for 0% rent hikes, or perhaps 1% if City Hall decides they need to show some \u201cindependence.\u201d<\/p>\n By turning what is supposed to be an evidence-based analysis into a politicized spectacle<\/a>, Mamdani runs the risk of having the US Supreme Court strike down<\/a> the rent laws entirely. <\/p>\n Owners argue that the system of rent regulation is an illegal \u201ctaking\u201d of property without fair compensation, and if the RGB is plain just following the mayor\u2019s orders, the Supremes should agee.<\/p>\n