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Posted on 06/25/2026 5:22:33 PM PDT by Red Badger
Tenants in about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments will not see their rents increase for the next two years after New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board approved a first-of-its-kind freeze at an annual hearing Thursday night.
The 7-1 vote marks the first two-year rent freeze in the board’s history and fulfills a key campaign pledge from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who named six of the board’s nine members.
The decision applies to rent-stabilized apartments in buildings with six or more units built before 1974, as well as apartments in buildings that receive certain tax breaks or government subsidies. The freeze applies to new one- and two-year leases beginning between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027.
Hundreds of tenants packed the theater at El Museo del Barrio, singing and chanting about tenant power ahead of the board’s decision. Many in attendance, who had helped propel Mamdani’s successful campaign for mayor, which featured a viral vow to “freeze the rent,” held signs demanding a rent freeze. At least one attendee blew a whistle to punctuate the slogans resonating through the auditorium.
The tension peaked before owner representative Maksim Wynn cast the board's final vote. As he read a lengthy statement saying that policymakers should focus on "reducing expenses rather than raising rent," tenants interrupted with chants and whistles before erupting in cheers when he voted in favor of the freeze.
After the vote, tenants spilled into the street to celebrate.
"Organized tenants made history today," New York State Tenant Bloc Executive Director Sumathy Kumar said in a statement.
Mamdani's promise to "freeze the rent" for millions of tenants fueled his successful campaign for mayor last year. During Mayor Eric Adams' four years in office, the board approved annual rent increases totaling about 12% on one-year leases. The board had previously approved three one-year rent freezes, all during Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration.
Despite Mamdani’s campaign pledge, the mayor alone does not determine the annual rent increase or freeze. Instead, the mayor appoints members of the Rent Guidelines Board who are tasked with examining financial data and considering testimony from tenants and landlords before casting their final vote.
The board voted last month to consider a range of possible outcomes, from a two-year freeze to a 2% increase on one-year leases and a 4% increase on two-year leases.
Landlord groups assailed that vote, saying owners need to increase revenue much higher to keep up with their own rising costs on insurance, fuel and labor.
"The Rent Guidelines Board ignored its own data and made a terrible decision tonight," Real Estate Board of New York President James Whelan said in a statement.
New York state rent laws cap how much property owners can increase prices on regulated apartments, placing significant pressure on the board’s annual decision.
Hours before the vote, property owner representative Christina Smyth resigned from the board. In a statement shared with Gothamist, Smyth said the board had crossed a “legal line” by pursuing a rent freeze despite data she said contradicted the decision.
In a statement after the vote, Mamdani said the decision reflected the Rent Guidelines Board's independent review of financial data and public testimony.
"This is a historic victory for New York City tenants," Mamdani said. "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."
Policy experts have said the city’s rent stabilization system preserves affordable housing for tens of thousands of renters, who are protected from exorbitant and unpredictable rent increases. A report released Monday by the anti-poverty group Robin Hood found rent regulations kept roughly 140,000 New Yorkers from slipping below the poverty line.
“New York City faces a profound affordability crisis,” said Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery, a former deputy mayor. “Families in stabilized apartments are already cutting back on food, utilities, and basic necessities just to stay housed.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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I think the solution is MILLIONS MORE ILLEGAL INVADERS! /s
I doubt this is legal.
Well, that ALONE will solve ALL of NYC’s problems, don’t ‘cha THINK?
I’d be moving people and pets and houseplants OUT and wondering how the fire started if I was a Landlord in NYC...
I used to have a rental property; my Dad managed it for me while I was stationed overseas. The hassle is WORSE than you can EVER imagine and more than you can EVER make up for in rent or tax write-offs. *SHUDDER*
oh- its legal...but what’s going to happen is landlords will ignore repairs to the buildings and apartment as expenses like heating oil, etc, will rise faster while rents will remain the same...
Then the same people who fought not to pay a rent increase will complain as their apartments decay to sheet....Many NYChitty apartments were ratholes even before this rent freeze...
Rent?
Why do they have to pay anything?
Not sure it’s legal...first time it’s ever been done. Time will tell.
I hope you are correct and i am wrong...
All you need is just one bad tenant. Just one.
I suppose that if things fall just your way, you can make good money being a landlord. But one of those investment gurus once said that if you want invest in rental property, buy a diversified real estate trust (REIT).
That advice always made sense to me.
It’s far worse in “tenant friendly” areas. The rules are so strict for landlords that it favors professional tenants and squatters. Takes months, even years to get them out. That’s why I’ll wait 6 months before filling a vacancy.
I get LOTS of interest on our fully remodeled and rehabbed units but 98% of them are the three Ds “druggies, deadbeats and drama”
A fair guess that many landlords will just simply walk away as they have no control on rental prices, the banks/S&L etc. are going to get stuck with these properties. Also the ‘squatter’ issues will flare up and the illegals can hide better. Gonna be really ugly.
It’s easy to see the end game here. You may recall that earlier, The Commie stated that he would implement a policy that would expropriate property from landlords who, in the sole opinion of the City, failed to maintain their properties and therefore allow the tenants or community non-profits to acquire them. Freezing the income from rent stabilized apartments will eventually lead to this outcome.
Yup. Our side sees rent freeze/rent control as a bad idea because is inevitably creates a financial squeeze on the landlord, who will not maintain the building, and then the renters suffer because of leaks, rats, no heat, whatever.
But Their side sees it differently. Create a scenario where the landlord “isn’t doing his part” and then the city earns the right to seize the whole thing. It’s like Cuba nationalizing hotels or something. The communists dream of stuff like this — but in the long run it just creates a whole lot of people who lose out badly.
NYC enacts rent freeze on 1M stabilized units after Mamdani accused of stacking board: ‘Absolute farce’
Mamdani rent freeze scheme ripped as ‘theater’ by landlord rep — as she resigns in protest hours before vote
AWESOME. Nothing but good times in New York. Mecca on the Hudson.
‘Cause it worked so well the last time...
Two years, then two more years, then two more years......ad infinitum.
Then New York City will be a huge slum................
I still remember the blocks of empty apartments because the owners had to just ditch and leave.
everything about rent freezing and rent control seems like it should be unconstitutional.
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