New York City freezes rents for one million apartments as Mayor Mamdani delivers campaign promise

The vote and immediate reaction

Hundreds of tenants packed an auditorium at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem and erupted in cheers and whistles when the Rent Guidelines Board approved the freeze on Thursday. Organisers of the tenant movement wept with joy. The vote was 7-1, setting increases at zero for both one-year and two-year lease renewals effective from October 2026. The measure covers rent-stabilised apartments, which house roughly 2.4 million New Yorkers across the city’s five boroughs.

This is a historic victory for New York City tenants. This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.

Campaign promise turned policy

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and the city’s youngest and first Muslim mayor, made housing affordability the centerpiece of his campaign. Since taking office in January 2026, he has appointed six of the board’s nine members, reshaping the body that decides annual rent adjustments. In May, Mamdani presented a plan to build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve another 200,000 over a decade, backed by a $22 billion housing budget, the largest in years.

Landlord backlash and the resignation

Hours before the vote, Christina Smyth, one of two landlord representatives on the board and an appointee of former mayor Eric Adams, resigned in protest. She accused the panel of bias and of knowingly disregarding its own evidence that landlords face rising operating costs. “The rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze,” Smyth said. “Everything since has been theater.” Board Chair Chantella Mitchell, a Mamdani appointee, maintained that members served with independence and integrity.

The rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze. Everything since has been theater.

The other landlord representative, Mamdani appointee Maksim Wynn, was booed during a lengthy statement but then voted in favour, drawing cheers from the crowd.

A divided housing market

Rent-stabilised apartments carry an average monthly rent of $1,599, according to the board’s 2025 study. By contrast, the median rent for a newly leased apartment citywide reached $3,950, and in Manhattan the median surpassed $5,000 for the first time in April 2026. Tenant activists argue that incomes have not kept pace with inflation, while landlord groups warn the freeze will undermine building maintenance. James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said the decision will mean less investment in repairs, accelerating deterioration of the housing stock.

Older rent-stabilised buildings are already struggling under rising operating costs, yet the Board chose to disregard those realities. This decision will mean less investment in maintenance and repairs, accelerating the deterioration of the housing stock that millions of New Yorkers call home.

What tenants say

Activist and rent-stabilised tenant Sarah Delany of the Bronx welcomed the freeze. She framed it as a matter of collective power.

Tenants have rights, and we have power, but we must stick together. Mayor Mamdani kept his campaign promise; that means we can afford everyday necessities.

The freeze applies to lease renewals between October 2026 and September 2027. For Mamdani, it marks early delivery of a central pledge only months into his term, while setting the stage for a broader push to make the city more affordable.