Mamdani-Majority Rent Guidelines Board Votes 7-1 to Consider 0-2% / 0-4% Range — Rent Freeze Stays Possible But Not Guaranteed

Summary

In its first preliminary vote under Mamdani, the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board (six Mamdani appointees, two Adams holdovers, plus Mamdani-appointed chair Chantella Mitchell) voted 7-1 with one abstention at a rowdy LaGuardia Community College hearing to consider a 0-2% range on one-year leases and 0-4% on two-year leases — first time the board has ever considered freezing rent on TWO-year leases, and only the third time in a decade it has considered 0% on a one-year lease. Tenant rep Adán Soltren's rollback proposal (-3 to 0% / -4.5 to 0%) failed; owner rep Christina Smyth's hike proposal (3 to 5.5% / 6 to 8%) also failed. Tenants chanted for rollbacks, growing louder after Soltren's proposal failed. Mamdani statement: "this is a starting point" — reiterated rent-freeze pledge. Final binding vote scheduled June 25 at El Museo del Barrio (1230 5th Ave); registration to testify at the May/June borough hearings opens May 14. The 0-floor preserves the freeze pledge as legally available; the 2%/4% ceiling means a freeze is "no sure thing" (The City). Same-day pairing: Mamdani/HPD announced $31M judgment vs. Robert Fulton Terrace + Fordham Towers Bronx landlords (largest-ever HPD penalty). Math context: 2026 PIOC up 5.3%, RGB-calculated commensurate revenue change 3.4%, citywide NOI +6.2% but Bronx NOI -0.1% (Hunts Point/Longwood down 13.1%); 9.2% of buildings citywide have negative NOI, concentrated in pre-1974 fully-stabilized Bronx stock. NYAA (led by ex-Asm Kenny Burgos) requesting $4.65B bailout; CHIP, RSA, Belkin Burden Goldman flagging Article 78 challenge risk if board adopts a freeze that appears more politically driven than evidence-based. de Blasio precedent: rent frozen three times (2015, 2016, 2020); never approved >1.5% increase across his 8-year RGB tenure.

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