{"id":2972,"date":"2026-06-26T04:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2972"},"modified":"2026-06-26T04:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T04:16:09","slug":"nyc-enacts-rent-freeze-on-1m-stabilized-units-after-mamdani-accused-of-stacking-board-absolute-farce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2972","title":{"rendered":"NYC enacts rent freeze on 1M stabilized units after Mamdani accused of stacking board: ‘Absolute farce’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s key campaign promise to \u201cfreeze the rent\u201d on Thursday \u2014 in a move landlord advocates slammed as \u201can absolute farce.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The board passed a rent freeze on both one-year and two-year leases for the Big Apple\u2019s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized units in a 7-1 vote. Arpit Gupta, an appointee of Mamdani\u2019s predecessor Eric Adams, was the one no vote.<\/p>\n

It came hours after the public resignation of one of the RGB\u2019s nine members, Christina Smyth, who accused the panel of ignoring its own data during the lengthy process to decide whether to adjust rents \u2014 claiming the decision was made \u201clast year on the campaign trail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The board \u201cstopped being a fact-finding body\u201d and was rebuilt \u201cto deliver a rent freeze\u201d no matter what, Smyth, one of two landlord advocates on the board, wrote in her scathing resignation letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything else has been theater,\u201d\u00a0she wrote. \u201cThe hearings, the reports, the public comment, the data. None of it was ever going to change the result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smyth was one of three members appointed by former Mayor Adams. Mamdani appointed the other six members after taking office this year.<\/p>\n

Hizzoner has repeatedly claimed that the board is independent, noting it had been conducting \u201cboth fact finding as well as testimonies\u201d for months before the highly anticipated vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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\u2019s history,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement after the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the relief that working people across our city deserve,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The vote, during a meeting at El Museo del Barrio in Upper Manhattan, sparked an eruption of cheers from the crowd of mostly tenant groups.<\/p>\n

But landlords have been sounding the alarm for months on the dangers of a rent freeze while costs continue to skyrocket.<\/p>\n

A report released by the Rent Guidelines Board in April showed rent-stabilized housing insurance soared 10.5% in 2026 year-over-year, while fuel and maintenance rose 11% and 6%, respectively.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe resignation of the only principled RGB member and the board\u2019s 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,\u201d said Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York.<\/p>\n

James Whelan, the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, also blasted the rent freeze as a \u201cterrible decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Whelan said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision will mean less investment in maintenance and repairs, accelerating the deterioration of the housing stock that millions of New Yorkers call home. Tonight\u2019s vote may be politically popular, but it will make New York\u2019s housing crisis worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maksim Wynn, a Mamdani-appointed landlord representative, gave a lengthy speech at the meeting acknowledging landlords\u2019 struggles \u2014 but ultimately said the rent freeze was in their best interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a substantial subset of housing stock in distress,\u201d Wynn told the crowd. \u201cStill, a 0% increase on 1 and 2-year leases is in landlords\u2019 best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The RGB has only frozen the rent three times in its history \u2014 all under Mayor Bill de Blasio, in 2015, 2016 and again in 2020, and all for one-year timeframes.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s political home, the Democratic Socialists of America, was already touting the win on Thursday ahead of the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust days after our candidates sweep their elections, we\u2019re going to deliver a rent freeze for millions of New Yorkers!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani unveiled a plan in April for a new, privately run city-backed insurance program aimed at reducing costs in rent-stabilized buildings. But City Hall has yet to release key details on the initiative set to launch in 2027.<\/p>\n

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The New York City Rent Guidelines Board approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s key campaign promise to “freeze the rent” on Thursday — in a move landlord advocates slammed as \u201can absolute farce.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nNYC enacts rent freeze on 1M stabilized units after Mamdani accused of stacking board: 'Absolute farce' - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2972\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYC enacts rent freeze on 1M stabilized units after Mamdani accused of stacking board: 'Absolute farce' - 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