NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — The annual battle over rent hikes for people living in a million rent-regulated apartments in New York City started on Thursday.
It was the first meeting of the Rent Guidelines Board with new members appointed by Mayor Mamdani.
During the campaign, Mamdani had promised to make housing affordable by freezing rent.
New York City has the lowest vacancy rate of any major city in America.
More than 98% of all apartments are occupied, which means that apartment hunters are vying for fewer than 2% of the city’s housing stock.
With rents rising to historic levels, the Rent Guidelines Board is facing unprecedented pressure to hold the line on the 40% of apartments that are rent-regulated.
At its first meeting on Thursday, the board heard from Emily Eisner of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
“When it comes to like, how much rent they’re bringing in and what it cost to maintain a building, most of the buildings in the city are healthy,” Eisner said.
Mayor Mamdani made it a signature issue in last year’s campaign.
And later made good on his pledge to appoint half a dozen members of the nine-member board. On Thursday, he posted a new video on social media.
“This process started today with their first report, which showed that buildings with rent-stabilized apartments saw their revenue increase by more than 6% last year,” he said in the video.
Citywide, the median monthly rent on a rent-stabilized one-bedroom is roughly $1,500. The asking rent for an unregulated one-bedroom? $3,800.
Many buildings are deep in debt and nearly 10% are considered distressed. Some experts question the wisdom of a rent freeze, amid rising costs for landlords.
“Property taxes are up double-digits, insurance is through the roof. Costs like water, sewer labor, maintenance-all of this that comes in, especially from local laws passed by the city, are not capped in their costs,” Kenny Burgos with the New York Apartment Association said.
Mark Willis studies rents at NYU’s Furman Center.
“I think the board has an impossible task to try and satisfy both the concerns about affordability and the concerns about the financial sustainability of the buildings,” Willis said.
The board has a series of meetings on the calendar and will get an earful from landlords and tenants before a final vote in June.
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