New York City Rent Guidelines Board votes to freeze rent for first time since 2020
By Jeff Capellini, Marcia Kramer, Alexa Herrera
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NEW YORK CITY (WCBS) — New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 on Thursday night in favor of a rent freeze, a decision that will impact millions of residents.
The outcome was another indication of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political power, as one of his campaign promises was to freeze rent.
“Historic victory for New York City tenants” The vote attracts a lot of attention every year from landlords and the city’s more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants. The last time there was a rent freeze was under Bill de Blasio’s administration in 2020.
The decision impacts one-year and two-year leases starting between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027.
“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants. After reviewing the data and hearing from New Yorkers across the city, the independent RGB has delivered a freeze on one-year leases, and the first-ever freeze on two-year leases in our city’s history. This is the relief that working people across our city deserve,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“I’m grateful for the board members’ thoughtful consideration of the data, including tenants’ ability to pay, cost of living and building operating costs. I’ll 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,” he added.
Landlords seethe, call vote “absolute farce” Rent Guidelines Board member Christina Smyth wrote in a letter posted on LinkedIn earlier Thursday that she was resigning, effective immediately, citing Mamdani appointing the majority of the Rent Guidelines Board members.
“This rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze. Everything since has been theater. The hearing, the reports, the public comment, the data. None of it was ever going to change the result,” she wrote, in part, adding, “I resigned today because this process is broken. I have had no problem in the past with my vote being on the losing side. It has already happened during my five-year tenure. I cannot in good conscience validate a process I believe is completely unjust. Owners and tenants deserve better.”
Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York, blasted the Rent Guidelines Board’s decision to even hold a vote, let alone freeze rents.
“This vote was an absolute farce. The RGB may have technically met its quorum requirements, but proceeding with one of the most consequential rent votes in recent times with half of its owner representation undermined the balance and fairness of this process. The vote should’ve been postponed until a new owner representative could be appointed,” Korchak said in a statement, in part. “The resignation of the only principled RGB member and the board’s only meaningful advocate for small owners validated our greatest fear, that the majority Mamdani-appointed RGB would cave to the political demands of City Hall. On top of being an owner voice short, this is an egregious violation of the RGB’s legal mandate to set rent adjustments based on the math of its own research, not on political influence. There is no practical or legal justification for this outcome.”
Earlier in the day, Mamdani insisted that whatever decision the Rent Guidelines Board made would be fair and impartial and based on the merits.
“This Rent Guidelines Board is an independent board that has been conducting a process over the last many months that includes both fact finding as well as testimonies,” Mamdani said.
RGB had proposed a potential increase Back in May, the Rent Guidelines Board put a 0% increase on the table, setting a preliminary range of 0-2% hikes for one-year leases and 0-4% for two-year leases.
The panel is supposed to be independent, but with six of the board’s nine members appointed by Mamdani, tenants were hopeful the outcome would be in their favor.
Residents argued their wages cannot keep up with the rent and that past increases didn’t go towards building repairs or improvements.
The Legal Aid Society issued the following statement on the decision to freeze rents:
“We commend the Board for their vote tonight to freeze the rent for the more than 2 million New Yorkers who currently reside in rent-stabilized housing. Numerous reports and data released by the Board over the past several weeks have proven unequivocally that tenants have reached a breaking point, with rising inflation, unemployment, New York’s skyrocketing cost of living, and eviction rates underscoring the urgent need for relief.
“Tonight’s vote is a lifeline that will provide much-needed stability for thousands of low-income and working-class rent-stabilized tenants facing the threat of eviction and displacement after four consecutive years of rent increases under the previous administration.
“At a time of historic unaffordability across the five boroughs — marked by an increased cost of living, low citywide vacancy rates, and record-breaking market-rate rent prices — a rent freeze is a prudent, evidence-based response to the challenges facing tenants across the five boroughs.”
Landlords warned against freeze The real estate industry warned of severe implications that would come with a rent freeze.
Landlords said it would will make it difficult to keep up with rising taxes, utilities and repairs, leading to worse conditions for renters.
“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,” said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.
“Many of us are operating housing that are well over 100 years old and the reality is that the quality of the housing is impacted and the quality of life is impacted when we can’t keep up with the operating expenses,” Korchak added.
While the vote may be popular with tenants, experts say the long-term impact may cause more problems than solve them.
“We have a housing crisis, not just a rent crisis, but we’re going to have a housing supply crisis as well. And that may only get worse if we don’t find ways to keep these buildings standing and operating in a decent condition,” said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at realtor.com.
Andrew Ramos contributed to this report.
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