Rent-stabilized tenants testifying at the Rent Guidelines Board hearing are feeling hopeful that there will be a freeze on rent.

“We’re hoping, under the Mamdani administration, that we finally get someone who’s going to listen to the plight of tenants,” Doug Ostling, a Flushing resident, told NY1.

What You Need To Know

Rent-stabilized tenants testifying at the Rent Guidelines Board hearing are feeling hopeful that there will be a freeze on rent

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran on fixing the affordability crisis. A rent freeze was a core part of his platform

In a preliminary vote last month, the Rent Guidelines Board voted for an increase of 0 to 2% on one-year leases and 0 to 4% on two-year leases signed on or after Oct. 1

Landlords are concerned because just like tenants, they are also feeling the squeeze from rising prices and say the cost to maintain a building has continued to increase

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran on fixing the affordability crisis. A rent freeze was a core part of his platform.

In a preliminary vote last month, the Rent Guidelines Board voted for an increase of 0 to 2% on one-year leases and 0 to 4% on two-year leases signed on or after Oct. 1.

Of the nine board members, six were appointed by the mayor.

“We need them to come through for us. We believe that’s why Mayor Mamdani has appointed these members to the board,” Ostling said.

Ostling has lived in his rent-stabilized unit for 50 years. He said a rent increase could force him to leave the city.

“We can’t afford to stay in the city that we love. I’ve lived here all my life; I’m a retired facilities manager living on a fixed income, and over 40% of my income goes to rent every month,” he said.

There are 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Under the Adams administration, the cumulative increase on rent-stabilized apartments was more than 12% over four years.

Wanda Martinez, who just retired, has lived in a rent-stabilized unit in Jackson Heights for about 30 years. She is concerned a rent increase will cause her to have to choose between getting groceries or paying her rent.

“If there’s a rent increase, it’s going to affect me personally because I just retired. So now I’m on a fixed income. And as prices are rising in groceries, healthcare, utilities; I would have to use some of the money that I have for those purposes towards my rent,” Martinez said.

She is cautiously optimistic that there will be a rent freeze.

“It’s a very important time in New York. We have a progressive mayor, and I believe that he will keep his promise. He ran on that rent freeze, and we backed his campaign because he’s a pro-tenant mayor. So I think it’ll pass,” she said.

But now, with a possible rent freeze on the table, landlords are concerned. Like tenants, they are also feeling the squeeze from rising prices.

According to the 2026 Rent Guidelines Board price index, utility costs have increased by 5.6% in rent-stabilized buildings, maintenance by 6%, and total costs by 5.3%.

Ann Korchak is the board president of Small Property Owners of New York. Her family owns two small, 130-year-old apartment buildings, and she said a rent increase is necessary.

“I am not supportive of a rent freeze because I operate in the real world. Expenses go up, revenue to cover those expenses come from rent,” Korchak said. “My greatest concern is the ability to keep up with property taxes, the ability to pay insurance, the ability to pay utilities.”

Korchak said she needs the Rent Guidelines Board to increase the rent by a minimum of 5% to keep up with rising costs.

But she also feels for tenants and thinks the city should help them pay rent.

“We need reliable and robust rental assistance for those tenants that do have a financial hardship,” she said.

Kenny Burgos, the CEO of the New York Apartment Assocaiton, told NY1, “a blanket rent freeze only bankrupts their buildings, and that’s not pro-tenant.”

“If the Rent Guidelines Board freezes rent this year, we will see more buildings fall into distress as they face rising costs, capped revenues, and the devastating impacts of the 2019 rent loss that have really caused all of this,” he added.

The board will decide on June 25 whether there will be a rent freeze.