Rent freeze on rent-stabilized units

DELIVERED Thu Jun 25, 2026 — Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 to freeze rents on BOTH one-year AND two-year leases in the city's ~1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Freeze applies to new 1- and 2-year leases beginning Oct 1, 2026 — Sept 30, 2027. First two-year freeze in RGB history. Trajectory: May 7 preliminary vote left a 0-2% (1yr) / 0-4% (2yr) range open (tenant rep's -3 to 0% / -4.5 to 0% counter failed); Mamdani appointed 6 of 9 board members including new chair Chantella Mitchell. Hours before the final vote, landlord rep Christina Smyth (Adams appointee) resigned in protest, calling the vote "decided last year on the campaign trail" and accusing the RGB of "starting with an answer and vibe-coding its way backward." Public Rep Arpit Gupta was the sole dissenting vote. CSS analysis: rent-stabilized households save $2.44B-$6.84B cumulatively 2026-2030. Landlords cite RGB's own Price Index of Operating Costs showing operating costs up 5.3% (fuel +11%, insurance +10.5%); NOI rose 6.2% (citywide) but Bronx rent-stabilized landlords saw NOI drop up to 13%. Small Property Owners of NY warns small landlords financially distressed. The freeze fulfills the most central Mamdani campaign promise. [Update Jul 22-25, 2026] Six landlords filed Article 78 in NY Supreme Court on Jul 22 seeking to void the freeze on procedural grounds ("packed board," City Hall briefing "compromised independence"). Judge ordered city defense filed by September; freeze still scheduled to take effect Oct 1. Status remains KEPT — freeze delivered as promised; litigation is a downstream risk, not a rollback.