NYC Panel Approves Rent Increases, a Key Issue for Mamdani and Adams

Mayor Eric Adams has supported rent increases for New York City’s one million rent-stabilized apartments every year since he took office. Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, likely to be the Democratic nominee facing him in the general election in November, cruised into the lead in his party’s mayoral primary last week on a promise to freeze the rent.

Now, a nine-member panel appointed by the mayor to vote on potential increases is set to decide what happens to rents in rent-stabilized buildings over the next year as the city faces linked affordability and housing crises. The contrast between Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Adams is adding a new layer of tension to the panel’s decision. The vote is scheduled for Monday night in Manhattan.

The panel, called the Rent Guidelines Board, took preliminary votes this spring to back increases of between 1.75 and 4.75 percent on one-year leases, and between 3.75 and 7.75 percent for two-year leases. Any increases would apply to leases beginning in or after October. Mr. Adams has said that the higher range was too high.

As in past years, the discourse around the vote reflects the rift between pro-renter and pro-landlord political interests in New York City. But it is also providing an opportunity for Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Adams to distinguish themselves from each other at a time when making the city a more affordable place to live is a key issue driving the election.

The board is supposed to be independent. But the mayor appoints its nine members, and its decisions often reflect the political priorities of the sitting mayor.

Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, built a successful campaign around a promise to appoint members to the board who would halt future increases. That strategy helped him surge ahead of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the front-runner in the polls who had been backed by landlords and did not support a rent freeze.