NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — The New York City Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase the maximum rent for stabilized apartments on Wednesday.
One-year leases will see an increase of 3%, whereas two-year leases will have a 2.75% hike for the first year and a 3.2% increase the next.
The increase will impact any leases signed or renewed after Oct. 1.
This is the second year in a row the board has voted to increase the cost of the roughly one million rent stabilized apartments in New York City.
Last year, the mayor-appointed board voted for a 3.25% increase on one-year leases, the highest increase since former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in office.
During a preliminary vote in May, tenant activists and leftist politicians stormed the stage with chants and banners to demand a rollback on rent prices. The board passed a tentative 2-5% increase for one-year leases and a 4-7% hike for two-year.
The board banned any items “likely to disrupt” Wednesday’s proceedings, like noisemakers or drums, and moved the meeting from Cooper Union to Hunter College in an apparent attempt to avoid a similar demonstration.
Tenant activists protested outside the meeting ahead of the vote.
The board has nine members all appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, who is himself a landlord.
Five of the members are supposed to be nonpartisan “public members,” two represent the interests of landlords and two represent the interests of tenants.
The increase at Wednesday's meeting passed five to four.
Adams voiced his support for the hike after the vote.
“I want to thank the members of the Rent Guidelines Board for their critically important and extremely difficult work protecting tenants from unsustainable rent increases, while also ensuring small property owners have the necessary resources to maintain their buildings and preserve high-quality, affordable homes for New Yorkers," said Adams. "Finding the right balance is never easy, but I believe the board has done so this year — as evidenced by affirmative votes from both tenant and public representatives."
City Councilmember Carlina Rivera denounced the increase.
"With unfettered price increases on market rate apartments fueling displacement and the persistent housing crisis, we must accommodate the majority of families struggling to make it here," said Rivera. "The Rent Guidelines Board must stop favoring landlords, as it has done for decades, and provide relief to renters doing their best to make ends meet every month. We must protect rent-stabilized housing and affordability as reasonably priced housing becomes more scarce."
Rents in New York City — whether stabilized or unregulated — are at an all-time high.
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