Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed 5 new members and reappointed one to the town’s Hire Tips Board on Wednesday — a transfer that offers his picks a majority on the panel and strikes him one step nearer towards enacting the lease freeze that he promised whereas campaigning final yr.
The nine-member board units annual lease changes for the town’s rent-stabilized residences, lofts, and single-room occupancy models. Mamdani, who made a lease freeze a cornerstone of his mayoral marketing campaign, now holds a majority of the board’s appointments forward of its June vote on new lease ranges.
Chantella Mitchell will function chair, bringing expertise as a program director on the New York Neighborhood Belief and in metropolis housing coverage. Sina Sinai, a senior analysis affiliate on the Jain Household Institute, Lauren Melodia, director of financial and monetary coverage on the Heart for New York Metropolis Affairs at The New College, and Brandon Mancilla, Area 9A director of the United Auto Employees, had been appointed as public representatives.
Maksim Wynn, director of growth at Procida Growth Group, was named the proprietor consultant, and Adán Soltren, supervising legal professional on the Authorized Help Society, was reappointed as a tenant consultant. They be a part of current members Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth, and Sagar Sharma.
The Hire Tips Board is predicted to gather knowledge and listen to testimony this spring earlier than voting on closing lease changes in June. Any modifications would apply to leases taking impact between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027.
In asserting the appointments, Mamdani didn’t point out his marketing campaign pledge explicitly however stated the brand new members carry expertise that can “help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York.”
“I’m proud to appoint these housing, finance, and budget experts to fill the open seats on the Rent Guidelines Board. I’m confident that, under the leadership of Chantella Mitchell as chair, the board will take a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city’s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York,” stated Mamdani. “At a moment when so many families are struggling to stay in their homes, this work could not be more important.”
RGB Chair Mitchell stated she was honored and searching ahead to “working with my fellow board members and the RGB staff to carry out the Board’s vital mission.”
Hire freeze debate defrosts
Then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul maintain their palms within the air at an October marketing campaign rally in Forest Hills, Queens, as state Senate Majority Chief Andrea Stewart-Cousins seems on.REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Mamdani was the primary candidate in final yr’s mayoral race to decide to a lease freeze, making it a cornerstone of his marketing campaign platform. As a part of his successful message on affordability, he repeatedly highlighted the monetary pressures going through rent-stabilized tenants, arguing that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers had been being pressured to decide on between paying lease and masking primary dwelling bills.
Tenant teams embraced the pledge, framing it as a response to what they referred to as years of unchecked lease will increase, together with the 12% cumulative hikes authorized beneath the earlier administration. Landlord teams, nonetheless, have argued that rising prices require larger rents to carry onto their buildings.
Sumathy Kumar, director of the New York State Tenant Bloc, stated renters plan to mobilize at upcoming hearings.
“New York tenants are getting our rent freeze,” Kumar stated in a press release. “Tenants are the majority in New York. We’ll be at the hearings in the thousands to fight for a rent freeze.”
The Authorized Help Society additionally welcomed Mamdani’s announcement and referred to as for a freeze, saying it was “more vital than ever” to offer aid to rent-stabilized tenants.
“Anything less than an outright freeze at the final vote in June will have catastrophic consequences for an already vulnerable population of renters,” the group stated.
Property homeowners worry being burned by lease freeze
Landlord teams, nonetheless, warned {that a} freeze may worsen monetary circumstances for rent-stabilized buildings.
Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Condo Affiliation, stated many properties are already beneath pressure and that his group is ready to take authorized motion if ideology is adopted over truth.
“Data show that tens of thousands of rent-stabilized buildings are in severe fiscal distress,” Burgos stated. “We believe the law requires RGB members to evaluate all relevant data and make a decision based on facts — not political ideology. If they choose to ignore the consensus view, then they will be opening up the process to legal scrutiny. Worse, they will be responsible for the deterioration and eventual destruction of thousands of rent-stabilized buildings.”
Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property House owners of New York, added that the mayor’s funds plans — together with a possible 9.5% property tax improve — would additional burden small landlords, notably family-owned and immigrant-run properties. Mamdani stated the town would undertake the property tax improve if Albany lawmakers refused to extend taxes on the wealthy and firms, which he says would assist the town stability the books.
“The Mayor said yesterday that his proposed 9.5% hike in property taxes is one of the few tools available to balance the city’s budget. He not only plans to hammer small property owners with increased property taxes, but also with his appointees giving him control over the RGB. He now wields the sledgehammer to enact a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. This will drive the final nail in the coffin of mom-and-pop, generational, immigrant small property owners,” Korchak stated, including that the transfer additionally threatens “the city’s affordable housing infrastructure.”
Korchak additionally cautioned that tipping the scales politically may create authorized challenges. “The RGB’s charter mandates a process independent of political influence and interference. Stacking the RGB with members who would potentially carry out his rent-freeze mandate would be a slippery legal slope for the Mayor and those RGB members,” she stated.
The board units annual will increase for roughly 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants and is scheduled to vote once more in June 2026. Beneath former Mayor Eric Adams, the board authorized lease will increase every year, totaling about 12% over 4 years. In the course of the administration of former Mayor Invoice de Blasio, the board froze rents thrice.
As his time period ended, former Mayor Adams sought to affect the RGB by appointing his personal candidates to dam a lease freeze. Two of his nominees, nonetheless, selected to step apart, and one seat turned vacant following a resignation on Tuesday, clearing the way in which for Mayor Mamdani to call a majority of the nine-member board
