In rare move, the Rent Guidelines Board just voted to lower rent hikes for NYC apartments

Time Out

a day ago

In an uncommon twist for New York City's Rent Guidelines Board, Tuesday night brought a surprise rerun: the nine-member panel voted again on preliminary rent hikes for the city's nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments—and this time, they shaved down the potential increases for two-year leases.
The new proposed range is 3.75-percent to 7.75-percent, down from the previously approved 4.75-percent floor. The board left the range for one-year leases untouched at 1.75-percent to 4.75-percent. It's a modest change, but one that affects roughly 2 million tenants and arrives amid a high-stakes mayoral primary in which the idea of freezing rents entirely has become a political flashpoint.
With one absentee, the 5–3 vote came after what Board Chair Doug Apple described as an 'additional review of evidence.' But not everyone was convinced. Tenant representative Adán Soltren fired back, reported amNewYork, arguing the board's public members should have gone lower to reflect the city's affordability crisis. 'Tenants in New York are really struggling right now,' Soltren said. 'I think the data is reflecting that.'
The decision marks a rare redo for the board, which usually holds a single preliminary vote before locking in rates at a final session—this year scheduled for June 30. The do-over was prompted in part by mounting pressure from tenant and landlord groups, who continue to clash over whether rent hikes should be capped or accelerated.
On the tenant side, the response was swift. 'The only reasonable rent hike was no rent hike at all,' said Cea Weaver of the New York State Tenant Bloc, which recently endorsed mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani, a vocal proponent of a four-year rent freeze. Mamdani has vowed to appoint tenant-first board members if elected.
Mayor Eric Adams, whose office appoints all nine board members, has distanced himself from the steep upper range. After the board's original vote, he called the 7.75-percent figure 'far too unreasonable,' though he has stopped short of supporting a freeze outright. Front-runner and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dismissed the freeze movement as 'politically convenient.'
Landlord reps, meanwhile, are crying foul. 'This second preliminary vote of even lower adjustments would further cap rent increases,' Ann Korchak of the Small Property Owners of New York told amNewYork, citing a 6.3-percent rise in landlord operating costs. The Real Estate Board of New York echoed that sentiment, calling the move 'unprecedented' and misaligned with the board's own data.
All eyes are now on the June 30 final vote, which, while not guaranteed to match the preliminary ranges, typically doesn't stray far. And with the mayoral race heating up, expect even more noise around a process that tenants, landlords and elected officials all agree is broken—but can't agree on how to fix.