A judge has ordered the city to turn over communications between the mayor’s office and the Rent Guidelines Board as landlords continue to challenge the board’s decision to freeze rents for rent-stabilized tenants.
The judge ruled that all written communications between mayor’s office personnel and board personnel from Jan. 1 to June 25 of this year must be turned over.
The order stems from a lawsuit seeking to overturn the board’s June decision to pause rent hikes for one- and two-year leases signed on or after Oct. 1. The freeze applies to the city’s approximately 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.
The suit argues that the board’s decision was influenced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who repeatedly promised during his mayoral campaign that he would freeze rents if elected.
Judge Brendan T. Lantry wrote that the lawsuit’s allegations “have raised significant concern to this court regarding the lawfulness of the Board’s procedure” in voting for a freeze.
“The court acknowledges that discovery in a special proceeding is rare. It is also rare (in fact, it is unprecedented) for a candidate for Mayor of New York City to guarantee that the Board, an entity that the parties concede is independent from the Mayor’s Office, will freeze the rent upon his election to office,” he said.
The judge specifically highlighted a November 2024 campaign ad in which Mamdani said: “As mayor, I’ll freeze the rent every year that I’m in office… That’s a guarantee.”
Landlords in the lawsuit are seeking to have the rent freeze vacated and annulled. Their suit also seeks to have the board reconsider its decision and implement a rent increase.
Randy Mastro, a lawyer representing the landlords, said in a statement that he was pleased with the order.
“We are gratified by the judge’s decision, and this targeted discovery goes to the heart of our position that this was a sham process with a predetermined outcome, and communications between the Mayor’s Office and the Rent Guidelines Board, which all parties admitted is supposed to be independent of the Mayor’s Office, should show that,” Mastro said.
The Rent Guidelines Board has argued its decision was “reasonable and rational, consistent with the Board’s discretionary authority, and entirely lawful,” according to the order.
In a statement, a City Hall spokesperson said: “The Law Department will continue to vigorously defend the Rent Guidelines Board, and we stand by our position that the RGB acted appropriately upon its review of the full body of data presented to the Board.”