Mamdani Rent Freeze Cheers Weary Tenants, Alarms Landlords

Demonstrators outside El Museo del Barrio in New York on June 25. Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg Photo by Adam Gray /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze rents for roughly one million stabilized apartments, handing Mayor Zohran Mamdani a major political victory and delivering on a central promise that launched him to City Hall.

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The board voted 7-1 to pass the freeze, which applies to both one- and two-year leases. It is the first time that rents for longer-term rental agreements have been frozen. The freeze was approved in spite of pushback from landlords who say that they are being squeezed by spiraling costs — and hours after a member of the panel quit in protest, saying the process had become too politicized.

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Mamdani has repeatedly called for a freeze, arguing that stabilized tenants are facing rising costs for food, transportation and other necessities even as wages fail to keep pace. The vote follows months of debate over whether tenants should be shielded from soaring housing costs despite mounting financial pressures on landlords.

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The freeze will apply to leases signed between Oct. 1, 2026 and Sept. 30, 2027. The last one-year rent freeze was during the pandemic in 2020.

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“Tenants have rights, and we have power, but we must stick together,” said Sarah Delany, an advocate and rent stabilized tenant in the Bronx. “Mayor Mamdani kept his campaign promise, and it also shows we’ll be able to pay for regular needed daily necessities. It’s a historic moment what just happened.”

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The decision makes Mamdani the first mayor since Bill de Blasio to oversee a rent freeze and marks one of the earliest and most consequential policy victories of his administration. Mamdani also reshaped the Rent Guidelines Board, appointing six new members earlier this year, creating a majority of appointees aligned with his broader housing agenda.

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The at-capacity crowd at the venue in Harlem, El Museo del Barrio, stood and cheered when the motion passed, but the mood was jubilant even before the meeting began. Hundreds of people holding “Rent Freeze” signs lined up outside, while a live band played at the entrance and organizers handed out water and ice pops. The party atmosphere continued after the vote, with the crowd singing, “we are the tenants,” to the tune of Queen’s “We Are The Champions.” 

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Mamdani called the vote a historic victory for New York City tenants. “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve,” he said in a statement.

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President Donald Trump, in remarks Friday in Washington, echoed the complaints of many landlords who argue rising energy prices and tax burdens have increased their costs, and that without the capacity to raise rents they could suffer financially. Trump, who has regularly assailed Mamdani’s progressive platform, claimed that housing units with rent freezes would deteriorate, leading residents to flee the city.

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The board operates independently of the mayor and is charged with weighing economic data rather than political considerations. Landlord groups have argued that the panel has become increasingly sympathetic to tenant advocates and have vowed to look at the legal implications of that alleged bias.