RGB holds rare revote, cuts two-year lower limit
The Rent Guidelines Board, in a rare departure from its regularly scheduled programming, held a revote on preliminary ranges for rent-stabilized leases — a crucial gauge for the final adjustments.
The board reaffirmed the range for one-year leases it greenlit last month but voted to cut the lower range for two-year leases by one percentage point to 3.75 percent from 4.75 percent.
The preliminary ranges are now 1.75 percent to 4.75 percent for one-year leases and 3.75 to 7.75 percent for two-year leases. The vote passed 5-3. One member of the nine-person board was absent, NY1 reported.
The change was rooted in a clerical error, sources told The Real Deal and RGB Chair Doug Apple confirmed.
Apple misstated the proposed range published to the RGB's website when he spoke at last month's meeting. He was competing against tenant chants for a 'rent freeze.'
'When Doug said the range out loud, it was incorrect,' a source who requested anonymity said. 'Everyone on the board and in and around the board knew this.'
The members decided a do-over would be best from a legal standpoint.
'What we did in April is what we did in April, and what we did today was the right thing to give us more flexibility in the range,' Apple said.
The switch-up comes as the RGB vote has become a political flashpoint in the mayoral election.
Mayor Eric Adams, fighting to keep his seat after a protracted legal scandal, is a small landlord who has historically advised the board to strike a balance between landlord and tenant interests.
After a swatch of his Democratic challengers called for a rent freeze, he tweaked his tune. On the heels of the preliminary vote, he called the 7.75 percent upper range for two-year leases 'far too high of a burden for tenants.'
After the Tuesday revote, sources pointed to an emerging 'narrative' that the number had been adjusted down to align with the mayor's stance. It should be noted, however, that the board tweaked the lower number, not the upper that Adams flagged.
A spokesperson for the mayor's office said, 'if [Adams] had instructed the board to hold a vote, please note that the Rent Guidelines Board is an independent body.'
At a press conference Tuesday, Adams said something to that effect while noting that the ranges weren't quite where they should be.
'The ranges that we put out, this independent board put out, was outside of the scope that we believe [in] — New Yorkers are hurting,' Adams said. He went on to advocate for a balanced approach and noted he'd be holding a town hall for small landlords who were struggling.
The hiccup at last month's RGB hearing illustrates the increasingly disruptive tenant protests during these proceedings.
Though no one stormed the stage, as a renter-aligned group did during the 2023 preliminary vote, Apple did struggle to be heard over a chorus of tenant chants. At some points, he and other board members seemed distracted by the din. When asked, however, Apple did not say the noise was a problem.
'It's a democracy, right?' Apple said. 'People can come and they can protest.'
'It was chaotic and loud, as usual,' Ann Korchak, who heads the Small Property Owners of New York, said of this year's preliminary vote. 'The board, with such an important job, should be able to conduct its business.'
The minor adjustment did nothing to quell the tensions of landlords or tenants, both of whom claim a final vote within the proposed ranges will be nothing short of disastrous.
Tenant advocates say New Yorkers burdened by the soaring cost of living and economic uncertainty can't afford higher rents.
The Legal Aid Society, said the board in its Tuesday vote had 'miss[ed] yet another opportunity to adopt a full rent freeze.'
Landlords, many of whom cannot maintain buildings with inflation-lagging rent increases, decried the cut to the lower range. SPONY, individually, called on the city to freeze property taxes, water and sewer rates and 'other government-driven costs' to help owners stay afloat.
Rent board eyes up to 4.75% hike as landlords, tenants despair
'They're pushing the eject button': Related unloads monster rent-stabilized portfolio for $192M — another loss
RGB calls for 6.3% hike on rent-regulated leases. Landlords: Please!
This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.
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