NEW YORK – A chaotic scene unfolded at a New York City housing meeting Thursday night as officials took a preliminary step toward potentially fulfilling Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge to freeze rents for roughly one million regulated apartments.
The city’s Rent Guidelines Board conducted its provisional vote amid shouting and chanting from hundreds of tenants packed into a college auditorium. The board established ranges for rent adjustments ahead of their final June decision: zero to 2% for one-year lease renewals and zero to 4% for two-year renewals.
This annual process determines rent increase limits for rent-stabilized apartments, which house approximately 25% of New York City residents. Board members consider tenant incomes, landlord revenues, inflation rates, tax burdens, housing supply changes and various other economic factors in their deliberations.
During Thursday’s vote, which passed 7-1 with one abstention, tenant advocates repeatedly shouted “Freeze the rent!” and erupted in applause whenever board members mentioned zero percent increases. They booed any number higher than zero and chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight! Housing is a human right!”
The six board members appointed by Mamdani continued their proceedings despite the vocal demonstrations from hundreds of New Yorkers in attendance.
Mamdani campaigned for mayor as a democratic socialist, vowing to freeze rents and address rising costs for groceries, childcare and other essentials in a city where newly leased apartments average $3,950 monthly, according to StreetEasy data.
His electoral victory has drawn attention from fellow Democrats seeking to regain political ground nationally and even caught the notice of Republican President Donald Trump.
Since taking office in January, Mamdani moved from a $2,300 monthly one-bedroom Queens apartment to the five-bedroom Gracie Mansion. New Yorkers are watching to see if his straightforward campaign promises will become reality.
“We have a new mayor, and he also lived in a stabilized apartment, he worked in the past with the people who had housing issues,” said Moreom Perven before showing reporters her rent-stabilized studio in Jamaica, Queens. “He understands the situation of New York City, how we are suffering, and I expect this time, we’ll have the good news.”
Perven, 49, has occupied her apartment since 2000, currently paying just under $1,300 monthly to a real estate management company controlling over 2,000 city apartments. Her building houses 187 units with 270 active complaints and 66 open housing code violations, according to city records. Residents continuously battle their landlord over basic maintenance issues.
“Roaches, mice, broken tiles, then water leakage, mold, bed bugs,” Perven listed while sitting beside a second refrigerator-freezer she purchased after the landlord-provided unit stopped working. “They don’t want to invest money to fix the issue.”
Perven works part-time as a tenants counselor for a housing advocacy organization and attended Thursday’s meeting with neighbors.
Hundreds of tenants gathered outside the venue, carrying signs in English, Spanish, Chinese and Bengali while beating drums and blowing whistles that security prohibited inside the building.
Tenant groups have split into two factions. The Tenants Bloc demands a rent freeze, which has occurred only three times during 50-plus years of rent stabilization laws. The Rent Justice Coalition, including Perven, seeks an unprecedented “rent rollback” to counteract the cumulative 12% increases imposed during former Mayor Eric Adams’ four-year tenure.
Property owners have testified through the Real Estate Board of New York and similar organizations, arguing that operating expenses are climbing, especially for older buildings.
Despite appointing most board members, Mamdani cannot directly influence their decision beyond stating his preferences. He has utilized city resources to educate New Yorkers about their rights and boost attendance at the four remaining public hearings before the June 25 final vote.
Thursday evening, Mamdani issued a statement encouraging both tenants and landlords “to make their voices heard and speak directly to what this housing crisis looks like in their lives.”
REBNY executive Basha Gerhards, representing property owners, argued that the board’s preliminary ranges “ignore the clear financial distress shown in the data” and declared that “a freeze or near-freeze is unjustifiable.”
Perven departed the meeting disappointed as a rent rollback appeared unlikely this year. While pleased the range included zero, she and other tenants worried that final votes typically settle somewhere in the middle of proposed ranges.
“We need to organize. We need to fight back,” she stated. “Hopefully we’ll see the same energy until June, for the final vote.”
