The housing board voted to end New York rents in Mamdani’s victory

The New York City Housing Board has approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s key pledge to end nearly a million rent-controlled apartments.

Hundreds of people in Manhattan greeted the results of Thursday’s vote as the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) approved a ban on both one- and two-year leases.

“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants,” Mamdani said in a statement.

The board voted 7-1 to adopt the policy, hours after one of its members, Christina Smith, issued a public resignation saying the panel was biased and “knowingly ignored its own evidence” that landlords face operating costs.

Smith was one of three members appointed by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mamdani appointed the other six members after taking office this year.

Smith, one of two landlord representatives on the board, said the outcome was already decided by the mayor.

“The rebuilt board had to deliver rent submissions,” she said. “Everything is theater from now on,” she said in a statement.

Board Chair Chantella Mitchell said board members have served with independence and integrity.

In a statement regarding rent payments, he said, “The overall data before the board this year reflects an economic climate in which most tenants in rent-stabilized housing are struggling to make ends meet due to rising housing costs.”

Rent-stabilized buildings will be eligible for rent freezes between October 2026 and September 2027 in all five city boroughs. They range from high-end luxury apartments to affordable subsidized buildings.

Tenants argued in public hearings before the vote that incomes have not kept pace with inflation and that past rent increases have not gone toward building maintenance or improvements.

But groups representing landlords have warned that the ban will make it harder to keep up with rising rents, utilities and repairs, leaving tenants worse off.

“The board has chosen to ignore those realities as the operating costs of older rent-stabilized buildings continue to rise,” said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.

“This decision means less investment in repairs and maintenance, which will accelerate the deterioration of the housing stock that millions of New Yorkers call home,” he said.

During Mamdani’s mayoral campaign late last year, his promises focused on the cost of living, with the rent dispute one of the main promises.

Among the promises of the democratic socialist mayor is to change the structure of the board.

In the year In a video from January 2025, Mamdani said that eight of Adams’ nine RGB board appointees had expired and that he would replace them if he became mayor, promising to “appoint only those who understand that landlords are doing the right thing.”

An initial vote by the Rent Guidelines Panel in May approved Mamdani’s plan to effectively end rents for nearly a million New York apartments.

Rent freezes were enacted three times before under former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio between 2015 and 2021, but only for one-year leases.

Mamdani’s rent-blocking victory adds to the successful election of a trio of left-wing congressional candidates backed by the mayor on Wednesday.

The two candidates are Mamdani, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and community activist Daryliza Avila Chevalier. Unseated Democratic members of Congress.

In the third race, state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez defeated an opponent who had the support of much of New York City’s Democratic establishment.