With just weeks left in the mayoralty of Eric Adams, a member of his administration asked the star of the Netflix reality show “Selling the City,” Eleonora Srugo, to consider sitting on New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board, Ms. Srugo said on Friday.
Ms. Srugo, a close friend of Mr. Adams, said she plans on declining the request because she wants to prioritize her television career; she added that the offer had not come directly from the mayor.
But the move reflects how Mr. Adams could complicate the key pledge of the front-runner to succeed him, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, to freeze the rent for stabilized apartments if he becomes mayor.
The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board votes every year on whether and how much rents can change for nearly one million rent-stabilized units. All of the members are appointed by the mayor, and have terms of between two and four years. They can stay on the board beyond the end of their term, until the mayor appoints a replacement.
Six members of the board are currently serving out terms that expired between 2020 and 2024.
Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, has said he would “freeze the rent” by appointing members who would not allow increases.
Mr. Adams, however, has said that freezing the rent would hurt landlords who need money to keep their buildings in good shape. The mayor, who had been seeking re-election, withdrew from the race last month.
If Mr. Adams appoints people who, like him, oppose a freeze, Mr. Mamdani would have limited options to reshape the board if he takes office in January.
He could easily replace the chair, who serves at the pleasure of the mayor. But by law, to remove any other board member, Mr. Mamdani would have to provide a specific cause, and give the member an opportunity to state a rebuttal at a hearing.
It was not clear on Friday if Ms. Srugo was the only person that had been asked to consider serving on the board.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Adams, Kayla Mamelak Altus, did not say whether the administration had offered Ms. Srugo a seat on the board. But she defended Mr. Adams’s right to do so.
“Just as he inherited appointees from the Rent Guidelines Board when he took office, Mayor Adams has the authority to appoint members to the board,” Ms. Mamelak Altus said on Friday. “The mayor cares deeply about ensuring that his efforts to support working-class New Yorkers and promote the creation of as much affordable housing as possible continue beyond this administration. As with any potential appointments, we would announce them if and when they are final.”
The possible appointment of Ms. Srugo was reported by The New York Post on Friday.
New York City’s system of rent stabilization has been a major focus in the mayor’s race, as it has become a significant source of lower-cost housing. The typical monthly cost of a rent-stabilized apartment is about $1,500, compared with around $2,000 for market-rate units, according to the most recent city data.
During Mr. Adams’s tenure, the board has raised rents every year, citing the need to compensate landlords for rising costs. When Bill de Blasio was mayor, just before Mr. Adams, the board froze rents on one-year leases three times and allowed only small increases otherwise.
That was, in part, because some of the board votes came during the coronavirus pandemic, when many renters had lost their jobs and were financially struggling.
Ms. Srugo, who was born in Israel and raised by a single mother in New York City, is now one of the top-earning real estate agents in the city. She has spoken openly of how she and her mother had to leave their SoHo loft after a rent increase when she was 20.
The first season of the show “Selling the City,” which is part of the “Selling Sunset” franchise, aired earlier this year on Netflix, and it hasn’t been renewed for a second season.
Ms. Srugo wants to continue working in reality television, she told The New York Times in an interview on Friday, and said that taking on a political role could be seen as “polarizing and uncomfortable” within the entertainment industry.
“I do have a unique perspective and experience, and I would love to consider something like this,” she said of the potential role on the board. “I really love doing my show and I’ve had so much fun with it and I wouldn’t want anything to cause any agita for a board that’s meant to serve the people of New York.”
Mihir Zaveri covers housing in the New York City region for The Times.
Debra Kamin is an investigative reporter for The Times who covers wealth and power in New York.
The post Adams Eyes a Reality TV Star Who Could Help Block a Mamdani Rent Freeze appeared first on New York Times.
