New appointments to Rent Guidelines Board could put rent freezes in jeopardy
In his final days in office, Mayor Eric Adams has stacked the rent guidelines board ahead of his departure.
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In his final days in office, Mayor Eric Adams has stacked the rent guidelines board ahead of his departure. It's a move that could thwart incoming Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's plans to freeze the rent for nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.
Adams announced four appointments and reappointments, including Arpit Gupta, who was reappointed as a public representative, and Christina Smyth as an owner representative. Lliam Finn has been appointed as a public representative, and Sagar Sharma has been appointed as a tenant representative.
“From passing historic zoning reforms to creating record amounts of affordable housing, we are proud to be the most pro-housing administration in city history. We’re using every tool in our toolbox to tackle our city’s housing crisis, and that includes appointing smart, seasoned experts to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board,” said Adams. “These respected appointees bring decades of experience in the housing sector and I am confident they will serve as responsible stewards of our city’s housing stock, using facts and data to reach the right decision for both tenants and property owners.”
The RGB is a board of nine members that has the power to decide on rent hikes or freezes based on evidence-backed data. This year, the board voted for a 3% increase for one-year leases.
"We need that rent freeze to be able to survive," said Mercedes Escoto, a tenant and member of Community Action for Safe Apartments.
Escoto has lived in her rent-stabilized apartment in The Bronx for 18 years and says Mamdani's promise of a rent freeze is why she voted for him.
"Instead of getting better, things are getting worse. Mayor Adams did nothing for us," said Escoto.
Landlords and small property owners have loudly opposed the policy of pausing increases on rent, saying rising costs hurt their pockets too.
"You wind up in a cycle of patchwork, as opposed to better long-term capital improvements," said Ann Korchak, with the Small Property Owners of New York.
Korchak says rent increases raise their revenue, which covers rising costs.
"Property taxes are always escalating at an alarming rate. Insurance in the last six to seven years has also been increasing at a very, very fast rate," said Korchak.
Mamdani says he remains committed to his campaign promise.
"I remain just as committed to delivering a four-year rent freeze. There is no number of late appointments that will change that," said Mamdani.
The board will convene in June.
