Adams stacks Rent Guidelines Board, jeopardizing Mamdani’s rent freeze pledge
Credit: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photo Office on Flickr
With just two weeks left in office, Mayor Eric Adams has appointed four new members to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, in an effort to block Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s push for a rent freeze. With these appointments and reappointments, Adams’ allies now hold a majority on the nine-member board, which sets rent increases for the city’s one million rent-stabilized apartments.
The first new appointee, Arpit Gupta, is an associate professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business. His research focuses on using large datasets to study “default dynamics” in household finance, real estate, and corporate finance. Gupta, first appointed to the RGB in 2022, is now being reappointed as a public representative.
Christina Smyth, the second appointee, is the founder and owner of Smyth Law PC, a real estate law firm representing multifamily residential building owners, operators, and management companies across Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Previously appointed to the RGB in 2022, she has now been reappointed as an owner representative.
Appointed as a tenant representative, Sagar Sharma is the deputy director at Legal Services NYC, where he has worked in the Housing Unit since 2018, advocating for low-income New Yorkers and fighting poverty. Lliam Finn, a senior financial advisor with Merrill Lynch, has been appointed as a public representative.
In a statement, Adams said he was confident the new members would serve as “responsible stewards” of the city’s housing stock.
“From passing historic zoning reforms to creating record amounts of affordable housing, we are proud to be the most pro-housing administration in city history,” Adams said. “We’re using every tool in our toolbox to tackle our city’s housing crisis, and that includes appointing smart, seasoned experts to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board.”
“These respected appointees bring decades of experience in the housing sector and I am confident they will serve as responsible stewards of our city’s housing stock, using facts and data to reach the right decision for both tenants and property owners.”
Freezing rents for stabilized tenants was a central campaign pledge of Mamdani, who said he would appoint board members to oppose proposed increases. Adams’ move to stack the board puts that pledge in jeopardy and leaves the mayor-elect with little room to make changes when he takes office on January 1.
Mamdani’s vision of freezing rents could be hindered for at least the first two years of his term. Six members currently serve on expired terms—including some appointed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio—and Adams can replace them at any time. A seventh member, whom Adams appointed, will step down on December 31, as 6sqft previously reported.
The mayor-elect’s transition team has since responded to Adams’ move, saying it remains committed to enacting a rent freeze, as reported by NY1.
“We are just as committed to a four-year rent freeze for the more than two million rent-stabilized tenants who call this city home and deserve relief amidst this affordability crisis,” they wrote. “We will use all the tools at our disposal to deliver it and last-minute appointments do not change these facts.”
In a statement, Sumathy Kumar, managing director of the NYS Tenant Bloc, insisted that New Yorkers would still be getting their rent freeze.
“We are getting our rent freeze. Over 1 million New Yorkers just voted for a mayor who will freeze the rent,” Kumar said. “And landlord profits are up 12 percent, while we’re forced to choose between paying the rent and paying for groceries. The people support it. The data supports it. And the next mayor of New York City supports it. Tenants are the majority in New York—and we’re winning a rent freeze.”
Under Adams, the RGB has voted to raise rents for stabilized apartments four times, arguing that the increases are necessary to offset rising landlord costs. During Mayor Bill de Blasio’s eight-year administration, the city froze rents on one-year leases three times and approved only modest increases otherwise.
This year, the board voted to raise rents for stabilized apartments by 3.75 to 7.75 percent for two-year leases and 1.75 to 4.75 percent for one-year leases starting on or after October 1, 2025, as 6sqft previously reported.
Freezing rents has faced strong opposition from the city’s real estate industry and landlord groups, who argue that capping rents on stabilized units could lead buildings to fall into disrepair. Experts have also warned that a freeze might prompt an increase in market-rate units to offset rising maintenance and energy costs.
Alex Schwartz, a current RGB member and its longest-serving representative, has also voiced opposition to a rent freeze. Last month, he published an opinion piece in the Daily News echoing real estate officials’ claims that a freeze would worsen housing conditions and limit one of the few legal ways landlords can raise rents on stabilized units, according to Gothamist.
Schwartz told Gothamist that, while he has not discussed his future on the RGB, he expects Mayor-elect Mamdani to replace him because of his opinion piece.
In contrast, a Rent Guidelines Board report released earlier this year found that landlord profits rose 12.1 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to the Community Service Society. The NYS Tenant Bloc also referenced an April poll illustrating that 78 percent of New Yorkers endorse a rent freeze, while 54 percent are considering leaving the five boroughs due to housing costs.
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