A New York City panel voted on Thursday to freeze rents for nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments, fulfilling one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s key campaign promises and handing the mayor a major policy win six months into his tenure.<\/p>\n
The panel, known as the Rent Guidelines Board, approved the freeze on both one- and two-year leases in a 7-to-1 vote, pausing increases on more than 40 percent of all apartments across the five boroughs \u2014 a mix that includes high-rise luxury apartments, deeply affordable subsidized units and 150-year-old walk-ups. New York City now may offer a model for rent control efforts in other cities and states.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a historic victory for New York City tenants,\u201d Mr. Mamdani said in a statement after the vote. He added, \u201cI\u2019ll continue working to deliver a more affordable city by building and preserving affordable housing, lowering building operating costs like insurance and ensuring tenants know their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The freeze would apply to leases beginning on or after Oct. 1. It was the first rent freeze ever on both one- and two-year leases.<\/p>\n
The decision on a contentious issue adds to an already triumphant week for the mayor, who enjoyed a stunning political victory<\/a> on Tuesday when three left-leaning candidates he endorsed won congressional primaries.<\/p>\n The vote on Thursday took place at El Museo del Barrio, a museum in East Harlem. Dozens of pro-tenant activists flooded an auditorium, holding signs and chanting, breaking into sheer jubilation after the vote. Several tenant organizers were crying in happiness.<\/p>\n \u201cThe working class makes this city run, and we deserve to live in dignity,\u201d said Farhana Rahman, a tenant leader in Astoria, Queens, for CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, which advocates on behalf of low-income Asian communities. \u201cA freeze on rents for two years means relief and piece of mind for 24 months.\u201d<\/p>\n The outcome reflected Mr. Mamdani\u2019s view that an aggressive public sector should work to rein in private industry. But it also reinforced a view of housing policy that is growing in popularity on the left: that strict rent regulation should be paired with unleashing more private development to help ease the city\u2019s housing shortage.<\/p>\n The real estate industry had vociferously opposed a rent freeze, saying it would hurt landlords\u2019 ability to properly maintain their buildings. Landlords and even some independent housing experts have been raising alarms in recent years about the increasing financial burden of insurance, maintenance, taxes and other costs.<\/p>\n The board\u2019s annual vote takes into account those concerns, in addition to factors affecting renters, like incomes and unemployment rates.<\/p>\n \u201cTonight\u2019s vote may be politically popular, but it will make New York\u2019s housing crisis worse,\u201d said James Whelan, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, an influential lobbying group. Mr. Whelan accused the Rent Guidelines Board of \u201cignoring\u201d its own data.<\/p>\n The panel includes two members representing landlords, two representing tenants and five \u201cpublic\u201d members, including one who serves as the chair. It is supposed to operate independently, though Mr. Mamdani appointed a majority of its members.<\/p>\n On Thursday morning, one of the board\u2019s members who represents landlords, Christina Smyth, resigned, saying she felt the vote was predetermined. That prompted an extraordinary public statement<\/a> from the board\u2019s chair, Chantella Mitchell, saying that she wanted to \u201cto affirm the independence with which this year\u2019s board members have served.\u201d<\/p>\n The lone vote against the freeze was cast by Arpit Gupta, one of the board\u2019s \u201cpublic\u201d members. Mr. Gupta declined to comment on Thursday.<\/p>\n In a surprise, Maksim Wynn, a Mamdani appointee who represents landlords on the board, voted in favor of the freeze. Mr. Wynn said in a statement that the problems facing landlords needed systemic <\/p>\n The cost and availability of housing has been a key part of the mayor\u2019s affordability agenda. New York\u2019s current vacancy rate is just 1.4 percent, according to the most recent city survey \u2014 so low that the city has called it an emergency.<\/p>\n Though the yearly vote has been a flashpoint in New York City housing politics for decades, the debate has been particularly fraught this year because of Mr. Mamdani\u2019s campaign promise, which he announced a year ago in a video on social media<\/a>, saying he would appoint only members who \u201cunderstood landlords are doing just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n By February, he had appointed six of the members<\/a> now serving on the board, including Ms. Mitchell.<\/p>\n Over the next few months, the board held a series of public hearings, considered testimony from tenant advocates and landlords and pored over research on housing and the economy.<\/p>\n Mr. Mamdani and his supporters have noted that the board has frozen rents on one-year leases a few times before, including in 2015 (the first time in its 46-year history<\/a>), 2016, 2020 and the first half of 2021.<\/p>\n