NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced six new appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-member panel tasked with governing rent-stabilized units.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said in a statement Wednesday that the newly composed board will \u201ctake a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city\u2019s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor is seeking to fulfill one of his signature campaign promises to freeze rents on the city\u2019s 1 million rent-regulated apartments. The appointments come a day after he threatened to raise property taxes by almost 10% to lobby New York Governor Kathy Hochul into providing more funding for the city. The mayor, a democratic socialist, is confronting a budget gap that threatens his ability to deliver on the most ambitious parts of his agenda.<\/p>\n
Freezing rents is controversial. Even as many tenants in the city struggle with affordability, landlords and business groups have contended that, despite rising rents on price-stabilized units, rental income isn\u2019t keeping pace with faster inflation and escalating expenses.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of affordable housing units subsidized by the government are already under distress with expenses far outpacing their rents, according to advocacy group New York Housing Conference. While a freeze would help tenants, it risks pushing landlords of affordable housing units closer to default and will require Mamdani to spend $1 billion in 2026 to help landlords restructure their debts, the group said in November.<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s predecessor, Eric Adams, named four members to the rent body at the end of his term in an effort to stymie Mamdani.<\/p>\n
The new chair is Chantella Mitchell, a program director at the New York Community Trust.<\/p>\n