New York rent board freezes regulated rents for up to two years

New York’s Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 on Thursday to freeze rents for about one million regulated apartments in the city for up to two years, setting the increase for new one- and two-year leases at 0% starting in October. The decision fulfills a central campaign promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani just months into his term. Hundreds of tenants who packed a lecture hall in a Manhattan museum cheered and whistled when the result was announced.

Mamdani called the vote “a historic victory for New York tenants” and said, “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.” The board’s annual process determines how much landlords may raise rent in so-called stabilized apartments, where about one-quarter of New Yorkers live. In making its decision, the board weighs wages, inflation, maintenance costs, taxes and landlords’ income.

A 2025 board study found average rent in a regulated apartment was $1,599 a month, while StreetEasy said the median rent for a new market-rate apartment was $3,950. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who campaigned on making the city more affordable, appointed six of the board’s nine members after taking office in January, choosing people he believed were sympathetic to tenants.

Hours before Thursday’s vote, Christina Smith, a board member representing landlords and an appointee of the previous mayor, resigned and accused the board of bias, saying, “The whole thing was theater.” Board chair Sheana Mitchell, appointed by Mamdani, rejected that claim and said the members and staff acted independently and with integrity. Tenant advocates had demanded a freeze or even a cut, citing inflation and rising bills, while landlord groups warned the move would hurt building maintenance and force some owners to raise rents on unregulated units to offset losses. The vote capped a strong week for Mamdani, who also celebrated the victories of three left-wing congressional candidates in Democratic primaries.