Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams just tried to thwart one of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s trademark proposals: freezing rents for around 1 million rent-stabilized units in the city.
Less than two weeks before exiting City Hall, Adams on Thursday, Dec. 18, announced four appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board, after most of the nine-member board's terms expired. Adams, a one-term centrist Democratic mayor, has opposed Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal.
Mamdani, who will be sworn in Jan. 1, campaigned on addressing affordability for New Yorkers and would need the board, which sets annual rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments, to vote every year against raising rents.
“We’re using every tool in our toolbox to tackle our city’s housing crisis, and that includes appointing smart, seasoned experts to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board,” Adams said in a statement.
A City Hall news release said Adams reappointed two current members and appointed two others who “reflect the Adams administration’s ongoing commitment to affordable housing and evidence-based policymaking.”
