NYC rent freeze likely: Mamdani announces six appointees to Rent Guidelines Board
Photo by Niv Rozenberg on Unsplash
Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday announced the appointment of six members to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), making his central campaign pledge of freezing rents for stabilized apartments much closer to reality. The nine-member board, appointed by the mayor, sets the lease guidelines annually for New York City’s one million rent-stabilized apartments by considering the economic conditions for tenants and landlords.
The board consists of two members appointed to represent tenant interests, two to represent owner interests, and five members to represent the general public. The chairperson serves at the pleasure of the mayor.
On Tuesday, Mamdani appointed Chantella Mitchell, program director at the New York Community Trust, as the chair.
“I’m confident that, under the leadership of Chantella Mitchell as chair, the board will take a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city’s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“At a moment when so many families are struggling to stay in their homes, this work could not be more important.”
New public members include Sina Sinai, senior research associate at the Jain Family Institute; Lauren Melodia, director of economic and fiscal policy at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School; and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director of the United Auto Workers.
The mayor appointed Maksim Wynn, the director of development at Procida Development Group, as an owner member and reappointed Adán Soltren, supervising attorney in the Housing Justice Unit Group Advocacy practice at the Legal Aid Society, as a tenant representative.
The appointments come after Alex Armlovich, a member appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, resigned on Tuesday, the third member to resign or hint at leaving the board this month, as The City reported.
Before leaving office last year, Adams appointed Sagar Sharma, deputy director at Legal Services NYC, as the tenant representative, NYU associate professor of finance Arpit Gupta as the public rep, and Christina Smyth of Smyth Law PC as the owner member. Adams also attempted to fill a public member spot with a senior financial advisor from Merrill Lynch, but the appointee backed out.
Under Adams, the board voted to increase rents for stabilized apartments four times. During Mayor Bill de Blasio’s eight-year administration, the city froze rents on one-year leases three times and approved only modest increases other times. For a big part of de Blasio’s tenure, though, landlords could raise rent by 20 percent after an apartment was vacated, removing them from the rent stabilization system; a state law passed in 2019 outlawed vacancy decontrol.
Last year, the board voted to increase rents by 3 percent for one-year leases and 4.5 percent for two-year leases. The RGB’s next rent adjustment decision will take place sometime in June, following testimony from experts and the public.
The news of a likely rent freeze comes a day after Mamdani said the city would be forced to raise property tax rates by 9.5 percent if he cannot convince Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to increase income taxes on New York’s richest residents.
Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), said the mayor’s actions will “drive the final nail in the coffin” for small property owners.
“He not only plans to hammer small property owners with increased property taxes, but also with his appointees giving him control over the RGB,” Korchak said in a statement.
“He now wields the sledgehammer to enact a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. This will drive the final nail in the coffin of mom-and-pop, generational, immigrant small property owners, and along with it, the city’s affordable housing infrastructure.”
The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan civic think tank, told the New York Times the property rate increase would amount to $700 more a year for a “typical owner of a one-, two-, or three-family home.”
Landlords argue that regular rent increases are necessary to maintain buildings, many of which are facing physical and financial distress. James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), also criticized Mamdani’s appointments and a potential rent freeze.
“Many of the city’s heavily rent-regulated buildings are facing severe financial distress, which continues to lower apartment supply and deteriorate the city’s housing stock,” Whelan said.
“While it plays well on the campaign trail, a rent freeze is an ill-advised approach to addressing a complex issue.”
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