Fulfilling his promise, Mamdani’s Rent Board votes through stabilized rent freeze

Popsicles, paletas and now rents: all frozen.

The Rent Guidelines Board on Thursday approved 0% rent increases for about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, delivering on one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s signature campaign promises.

The vote took place in front of rows of tenants and advocates chanting in four different languages at the auditorium at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem. Protesters lamented soaring rent prices and stagnant wages, carrying red “Freeze the Rent!” signs, distributed by the Democratic Socialists of America.

The measure passed 7 to 1, with eight members of the typically nine-member board present. Earlier Thursday, one of the members on the board representing landlords had resigned, protesting what she said was a mandate to “deliver a rent freeze.”

Mamdani has appointed six of the members, while three — including the one who resigned — were appointed under Mayor Eric Adams. Two represent tenants, two represent landlords and the other five, including the chair, represent the general public.

With the vote, tenants of rent-stabilized apartments across the boroughs won’t see a hike on their lease renewals starting Oct. 1.

Thursday’s vote marked the fourth time the board has approved a rent freeze in the city’s history. The three previous times all occurred under Mayor Bill de Blasio. But even then, two-year leases saw increases.

Thursday’s vote marked the first rent freeze ever for two-year leases.

After the decision, Bedford-Stuyvesant resident Darryl Randall thanked the mayor and said “there’s a lot of stress and weight taken off my shoulders.” The 57-year-old is out of work and did not know how he could have coped with more rent to pay.

“I’m on cloud nine. I feel like this is a dream. I’m like, I’m just hoping that this is not a dream,” he said. “If it was not for Mamdani winning, I don’t think we would have had this.”

Last year, the board voted on hikes of 3% increases for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases that began Oct. 1, 2025. At that meeting, members of tenant groups expressed hope for a freeze under Mamdani, the winner of the Democratic primary.

The new mayor, who swept the mayoral election with a pledge to make New York City more affordable, often repeated his platform of fast and free buses, free child care and freezing rents.

In a video shot on New Year’s Day in 2025 — when Mamdani was then a longshot candidate polling in the single digits — Mamdani plunged into the cold waters off Coney Island and made his pledge: “I’m freezing … your rent as the next mayor of New York City,” Mamdani said to the camera.

Once he became mayor, Mamdani backed away from explicitly directing the Rent Guidelines Board’s vote, as the board is meant to be an independent body. Mamdani has still openly supported a freeze as a way to control costs for rent-stabilized tenants, and at the same time has touted the forthcoming city-backed insurance program meant to decrease the cost of insurance for landlords of rent-stabilized buildings.

Landlords of rent-stabilized buildings saw their costs increase 5.3% between 2025 and 2026, outpacing the country’s 2.7% inflation rate, according to research by the Rent Guidelines Board. Previous research showed that between 2023 and 2024, landlords’ income rose 6%, though income and rental growth varied widely across boroughs and for different building types.

Some landlords have said they can’t afford to pay for maintenance of their aging buildings, let alone upgrades, given the climbing costs and limited abilities to increase rents.

In the worst financial shape are owners of older buildings with a majority of rent-regulated apartments. Some of those owners have trouble paying for their mortgages, risking foreclosure. In contrast, owners of newer buildings and those with a mix of market-rate and regulated apartments are faring better, since rising rents help cover the costs across the board.

“Instead of balancing the needs of renters and owners to maintain the health and stability of the city’s rent-stabilized housing stock, Mamdani’s RGB unleashed what will be irreparable destruction on affordable housing, small owners, and the millions of New Yorkers we house,” said Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York, in a statement.

She also criticized the board’s vote taking place without “half its owner representation.”

Meanwhile, tenants and many local groups supporting them maintain that residents can’t accommodate another rent hike, given rising costs they face.

That’s how Sarah Delany felt. The 62-year-old nurse — who has lived in her Highbridge rent-stabilized apartment for 17 years — said she feels it will now be easier to pay for “costs that have been troubling me” like transportation, food and medicine.

“Sometimes you have to decide what bill you won’t pay in order to get through,” she said.

On Thursday night after the vote, she said she was “ecstatic.”

“Everybody is energized, everybody’s hopeful, encouraged, not apathetic — voting, paying attention, staying involved counts. It means something,” she said.