A New York City housing board voted on Thursday to freeze rents for approximately one million rent-regulated apartments for up to two years, delivering on a key campaign promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani just months after he took office.
The city’s Rent Guidelines Board approved the measure in a 7-1 vote, setting rent increases at zero for both one-year and two-year lease renewals beginning in October.
Hundreds of tenants gathered at a Manhattan auditorium erupted in cheers and blew whistles after the decision was announced.
“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants,” Mamdani said in a statement. “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.”
The annual vote determines how much landlords can increase rents for the city’s rent-stabilised apartments, which house about a quarter of New York City’s population. In reaching its decision, the board considered factors including wages, inflation, maintenance costs, taxes and landlords’ incomes.