(The Center Square) – New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed five new members to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board on Wednesday in a move aimed at packing the panel with supporters of his push to freeze rents in taxpayer-subsidized apartments.
The first-term Democrat tapped Chantella Mitchell, a program director at the nonprofit New York Community Trust and a former city housing official, to serve as the nine-member board’s chairwoman. He also appointed Lauren Melodia, Brandon Mancilla, Sina Sinai and Maksim Wynn, while reappointing Adán Soltren as one of the panel’s two tenant representatives.
“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 2 million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York,” Mamdani said in a statement.
The overhaul of the rent board comes a day after the mayor threatened to hike property taxes by nearly 10% unless Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers approved his plan to increase taxes on the city’s businesses and high income households.
Mamdani, who took over City Hall in January, is wrestling with an estimated $5.4 billion budget gap that threatens his ability to deliver on an agenda that includes providing free bus service, tuition-free public college, and government run grocery stores.
The new appointments are also aimed at fulfilling Mamdani’s campaign pledge to freeze rents for tenants in taxpayer subsidized apartment units across the city of nearly 8.5 million. New York has some of the highest housing costs in the nation and the lack of options was a key issue in the mayoral campaign, with Mamdani campaigning on protecting rent-subsidized apartments.
Kenny Burgos, CEO of rent-stabilized landlord group New York Apartment Association, said freezing rents would shift more costs to private property owners who provide rent-stabilized apartments, exacerbating a housing shortage. He urged the new board members to not support the mayor’s push for four years of rent freezes.
“We believe the law requires RGB members to evaluate all relevant data and make a decision based on facts – not political ideology,” he said. “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.”
The city’s rent stabilization law, first enacted in 1969, restricts annual rent increases for specific apartments, with any increases set annually by the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board appointed by the mayor. It affects roughly 1 million apartments in the city and has survived dozens of legal challenges over the past several decades.
Critics have described the rent control system as “welfare for the rich” and said New York City is losing millions of dollars a year in potential revenue from the costly housing regulatory system. Supporters say it’s a crucial safety net in a city with some of the highest rents in the nation and a lack of affordable housing that is contributing to people leaving the state.
In 2024, then-Mayor Eric Adams signed a bill extending the city’s rent stabilization law by another three years following an unsuccessful Supreme Court challenge by landlords.
