New York City’s outgoing mayor, Adam Adams, has recently appointed four members to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), seen by many as a crucial move before the transfer of power. This move is viewed as potentially putting a substantial constraint on the “full rent freeze” policy advocated by the incoming mayor, Mamdani.
Adam Adams has reappointed current member Gupta (Arpit Gupta, Associate Professor at NYU Stern School of Business) and landlord representative lawyer Smyth (Christina Smyth), and newly appointed two members: Deputy Director Sharma from Legal Services NYC and Senior Financial Advisor Finn from Merrill Lynch.
Additionally, economist Armlovich, appointed by Adams, will serve until the end of 2026. This means that in the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board, Adams’ selected members will still hold the majority for at least the next year.
The Rent Guidelines Board is responsible for determining the rent increases or freezes for approximately one million rent-stabilized apartments in the city each year. The board is composed of two landlord representatives, two tenant representatives, and five “neutral public members.” In its history, the board has only voted to freeze rent three times.
Earlier this year, the board narrowly passed a resolution to increase one-year leases by 3%. Under Adams’ tenure, the cumulative increase in one-year lease agreements has reached about 12%. Mamdani, during his campaign, criticized these decisions and made “rent freeze” a core campaign slogan, promising to implement four consecutive years of rent freezes after taking office to alleviate the financial pressure on over a million rent-stabilized tenants.
The Adams administration has maintained a cautious stance towards the rent freeze policy. The city government and some board members believe that a full rent freeze could impact the quality of housing maintenance, increase operating costs, and even weaken long-term housing supply. Adams stated in a press release that the newly appointed and reappointed members “have decades of experience in the housing sector and will make responsible judgments based on data and facts between tenants and landlords.”
Real estate groups and industry professionals have pointed out that while the rents of stabilized apartments have seen some increase, it is difficult to keep up with the rapid rise in inflation and costs such as insurance, maintenance, and labor. A rent freeze could potentially impact property finances and even lead to some housing units exiting the market.
On the other hand, tenants and housing advocacy groups emphasize that after facing years of consecutive increases, a rent freeze is a necessary means of immediate relief for tenants.
In response to this, Mamdani stated that despite the “final blow” from Adams, he will still “use all available tools” to achieve the rent freeze goal, and emphasized that these personnel arrangements will not change his policy direction.
Senior member of the Rent Guidelines Board and professor of Urban Policy at The New School, Schwartz, publicly opposes the rent freeze policy, believing that it may worsen the housing situation. He told the media that the city government has not discussed his future with him, but he anticipates that Mamdani may not reappoint him after taking office.
As the mayoral transition approaches, the composition of the Rent Guidelines Board and its future voting trends have become the key battleground in New York City’s housing policy game.