Preliminary rent ranges that could allow a freeze for the city’s more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants has been advanced by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, but the board left open the possibility of another increase.
That sets a June vote that will test Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s central campaign promise, according to amNY.
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, amNY reported. The website noted that the final vote is scheduled for June 25, with four public hearings in between.
The board’s vote was the first major test of Mamdani’s rent-freeze pledge since he appointed five new members and reappointed tenant representative Adán Soltren earlier this year, giving his selections a majority of the nine-member board.
AmNY noted that the preliminary range is far lower than what advanced under former Mayor Eric Adams.
Landlord Group Critical
Landlord groups said the board ignored the data on rising operating costs and distress in older, heavily rent-subsidized buildings, while tenant organizers said the preliminary ranges fell short of what they wanted amid the rising cost of living
In a statement after the vote, Mamdani did not explicitly call on the board to approve a June freeze, having publicly cooled on the “rent freeze” calls since taking office, amNY reported.
Mamdani did say that New Yorkers are being “crushed by the cost of living,” and said he was encouraged that the board was taking seriously “the data around affordability, operating expenses, and the pressures facing both tenants and small property owners.”
“As 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,” Mamdani said. “I’m confident the Board will weigh those perspectives carefully and arrive at a decision later this summer that reflects the urgency of this moment.”
The website noted that the board’s vote came after it rejected proposals from both tenant and owner representatives.
Competing Proposals Fail
As the meeting began 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. His proposal failed. Owner representative Christina Smyth later proposed increases of 3% to 5.5% for one-year leases and 6% to 8% for two-year leases. Her motion also failed.
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.
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’s rollback proposal failed.
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.
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.
Boards appointed under former Mayor Bill de Blasio previously froze rents three times, including during the pandemic, amNY reported.
Vote Called a Breakthrough
The website reported that tenant groups cast the board’s vote as a breakthrough, while saying it must go further. The NYS Tenant Bloc pointed to Soltren’s rollback proposal as evidence that tenant organizing had changed the terms of the debate, amNY reported.
“When tenants get organized, participate in the political process, and use their political power, we can win,” said Sumathy Kumar, director of the NYS Tenant Bloc.
“Amid 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,” the group said. “However, we are disappointed that the board also included potential rent increases in the proposed ranges, despite the Board’s own data strongly supporting the need for a rent freeze.”
‘Clear Financial Distress’
Landlord groups criticized the preliminary vote, saying the board ignored its own data on operating costs and the financial condition of older rent-stabilized buildings.
Basha Gerhards, Executive Vice President of Public Policy at the Real Estate Board of New York, said the preliminary ranges “ignore the clear financial distress shown in the data.”
“With operating costs rising and conditions worsening across older, majority rent-stabilized buildings, a freeze or near-freeze is unjustifiable,” Gerhards said. “The Board has a statutory obligation to consider the financial viability of these buildings.”
Small Property Owners of New York also condemned the vote, amNY noted. Ann Korchak, the group’s board president, called it “reckless and irresponsible,” saying the board was violating its mandate to objectively analyze data and preserve rent-stabilized housing.
“This vote instead continues a decade-long pattern of defunding privately owned rent-stabilized housing stock and clearly surrenders to City Hall’s political pressure,” Korchak said.
The New York Apartment Association also criticized the vote. It pointed to the RGB’s 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.
‘Politics Over People’
“This range is an example of politics over people,” said Kenny Burgos, the group’s CEO. “The final vote impacts hundreds of thousands of tenants and owners. Politics has pitted the two groups against each other as if they’re not all New Yorkers who are investing in their communities and seeking the same thing: the means to live.”
Burgos noted that rent is needed to maintain buildings, not simply to generate owner income.
“An owner’s ability to pay for operating costs should matter to every tenant,” he said. “Rent isn’t going into the pockets of rent-stabilized owners, it’s going into keeping the buildings standing.”
