Yes, rents will officially increase for 2 million New Yorkers—here's who

Time Out

6 hours ago

It's official—New York's rent-stabilized tenants are getting hit with another rent hike.
In a 5–4 vote Monday night, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board approved increases of 3-percent for one-year leases and 4.5-percent for two-year leases, impacting over one million apartments across the five boroughs starting Oct. 1. That's roughly 2 million residents who'll be digging deeper into their wallets this fall.
The annual vote, always a flashpoint in the city's affordability crisis, drew fierce protests from tenants and housing advocates, who packed the meeting at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem chanting 'Freeze the rent!' Mayor Eric Adams, who appointed the board members, had urged more modest increases (1.75-percent and 3.75-percent), but tenant advocates say even that would have been too much.
Adams' mayoral rival Zohran Mamdani—fresh off a lead in the Democratic primary—blasted the hike as yet another example of the mayor 'placating real estate donors' and doubled down on his campaign promise to freeze rents if elected.
Even landlords weren't pleased. While tenant reps on the board voted no because the increase was too high, landlord reps also voted no, because it wasn't high enough to offset skyrocketing insurance and maintenance costs.
City Comptroller Brad Lander called the increase 'unaffordable' and the Legal Aid Society warned it would deepen homelessness and displacement. For stabilized renters, whose average rent hovers around $1,500 (compared to $2,000 for market-rate units), the bump adds strain in an already brutal housing market.
And in case you're wondering: No, this doesn't apply to everyone. These increases affect only those in rent-stabilized apartments renewing leases on or after Oct. 1. If you're in a stabilized hotel or SRO unit, your rent stays flat.