Good morning. It’s Friday. We’ll find out about the decision to freeze rents on more than a million apartments. We’ll also follow the story about an orange-and-blue Knicks trash can that was stolen during the parade last week.
Zohran Mamdani’s promise of a rent freeze drew attention to his upstart campaign for mayor a year ago. On Thursday, the panel that decides whether rents can go up delivered on his promise.
The panel, the Rent Guidelines Board, voted against increases on one- and two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments. That amounted to a freeze on more than a million apartments — more than 40 percent of the units in the city, from high-rise luxury apartments to century-old walk-ups. As my colleague Mihir Zaveri noted, the city has some of the nation’s most expansive rent restrictions. But it also has some of the most expensive rents.
The board’s 7-to-1 vote added to a week that has cemented Mamdani’s grasp on power after six months in City Hall. He proved to be the kingmaker in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, with stunning wins by the progressive candidates he had backed in congressional races. Establishment Democrats were left to acknowledge that traditional ways of reaching voters, from rallies and phone banks to big-name campaign events, had not held up. Mamdani’s own assessment was that his candidates succeeded because voters want government that puts a priority on working people.
The mayor called the rent board’s decision “a historic victory for New York City tenants.” But he also promised to “continue working to deliver a more affordable city by building and preserving affordable housing, lowering building operating costs like insurance and ensuring tenants know their rights.”
The real estate industry opposed a rent freeze, saying landlords needed money to maintain their buildings. But — in an unexpected move — Maksim Winn, one of the two board members appointed to represent them, voted for the freeze. He said that rent increases could decrease landlords’ revenue, because some tenants might stop paying.
He also said there were “systemic issues” facing landlords that needed attention — like property tax abatements and other assistance to reduce expenses — but were beyond the board’s control. “At this moment,” he said, “the tools this board has are more likely to cause owners harm rather than help.”
A landlords’ representative quits
Christina Smyth, who had been the other landlord representative on the board, quit hours before the vote, saying she felt that the outcome was predetermined. The board’s chair, Chantella Mitchell — whom Mamdani appointed in February — countered with a statement that said she was surprised that Smyth had quit.
Mitchell also pushed back at the idea that the outcome had been decided in advance, saying that she affirmed “the independence with which this year’s board members have served.” She said before the board voted that it had heard testimony from more than 300 people this year and had received more than 700 written comments, audio messages and videos.
There were moments when the meeting was raucous, with people in the audience holding up signs that said “Freeze the rent” and booing statements they disagreed with. The audience cheered when Mitchell adjourned the meeting after saying that she considered the freeze “a fair and responsible approach.”
Not the first freeze
The freeze was not the first in the board’s history, which dates to 1969. The board approved rent freezes in 2015, 2016 and 2020, when Bill de Blasio was mayor. He had “encouraged” a freeze in 2014, but the board approved increases of 1 percent for one-year leases and 2.75 percent for two-year leases.
But the freeze approved on Thursday was the first covering both one- and two-year leases.
No mayor had been as explicit about wanting rents left unchanged as Mamdani, who in his first six weeks in City Hall appointed six of the members now serving on the board. Besides the two members representing landlords, the board includes two members representing tenants and five “public” members, including Mitchell. She is the program director at the New York Community Trust, a nonprofit that funds projects involving housing, transit and education. She worked for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development for three and a half years when de Blasio was mayor.
Weather
Showers are expected in the early morning before the sun comes out and temperatures near 85. Tonight, look for mostly cloudy skies, a chance of rain and a low near 69.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until July 3 (Independence Day observed)
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They out-organized us.” — Letitia James, the state attorney general, on why establishment Democrats who ran in Tuesday’s primary lost to candidates backed by left-leaning insurgents.
The latest Metro news
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Mamdani severs ties with a day care center: The Mamdani administration ended a $933,000 annual contract with a Brooklyn day care center run by a romantic partner of former Mayor Eric Adams. She says that she was singled out because of her connections to Adams.
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Weinstein charges dismissed: A New York state judge dismissed a third-degree rape charge against Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer, after prosecutors said they would not seek to try him for a fourth time.
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Missing congressman back home: Representative Tom Kean Jr., who has been absent from Washington since March with little explanation, is back home in New Jersey. His absence — while running for a third term in one of the country’s most competitive midterm races — had frustrated some Republican boosters.
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Revitalizing Penn Station: President Trump will need the cooperation of the M.T.A., the state transit agency his administration has long criticized, if it intends to keep its promise to break ground on the Pennsylvania Station revamp by the end of next year.
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Democratic socialists’ expanding influence: Leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America are reflecting on how to use their expanding influence after D.S.A.- backed candidates won two House primaries and several state legislative contests in New York.
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Charged with forgery for A.I. use: Jonathan Rinaldi, a Queens political candidate, is facing criminal charges after using artificial intelligence to create fake news articles and false endorsements to bolster his campaign.
Knicks trash cans, stolen or otherwise
If you saw our story about the stolen Knicks trash can and you’re hankering for Knicks memorabilia, maybe you’d want a trash can just like that one — without having to steal it. The Sanitation Department will open a giveaway for five such containers starting at 10 a.m. today on X.
If you missed the story, one takeaway was that there are consequences in life, even in moments of extreme exuberance, like the parade last week.
Videos of a woman in Knicks regalia walking off with the orange-and-blue trash can flooded the internet. She emptied the trash on the sidewalk. Later she was spotted on the subway with the trash can.
It wasn’t just any trash can. It was one of a dozen orange-and-blue ones that the Department of Sanitation had set out along the parade route in Lower Manhattan to celebrate the Knicks’ first N.B.A. championship in 53 years. Some fans, aware that official Knicks merchandise was selling fast, speculated that the trash cans would disappear.
The department said that it was the only one taken. The department also said, in a statement, that “dumping trash on the street is illegal and antisocial, as is stealing public property,” and that “doing both on camera is incredibly stupid.”
The woman returned the trash can on Wednesday, according to the department, which posted a graphic on social media that said “We Missed You!” and “Welcome Back!” The department said that she had been fined $175 for littering and “impeding” sanitation operations.
As my colleagues Mack Liederman and Alexandra E. Petri noted, that was the least of the fallout for the woman, Angie Baez, 40. Until recently she was an executive director for community and industry engagement for JPMorgan Chase. But on Wednesday a spokeswoman said that Baez was no longer with the company.
Baez did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. But by then, her story had been splashed across tabloids and conservative media, often emphasizing her work in diversity programming, and had drawn angry comments on social media.
A spokesman for the Sanitation Department said the trash can that Baez walked off with was not among the ones in the giveaway. And a company said it had created replicas, though not because of the viral videos. The company, Only NY, said that it was selling full-size versions (for $168) and miniatures (desktop-size pen holders, according to the company’s website, for $58).
METROPOLITAN diary
No way
Dear Diary:
I was walking past a woman in her 20s who was dressed neatly if blandly in grays and blacks.
She was headed into an office building on 53rd Street, at 9 a.m., and screaming into her phone: “And I said I don’t know what that thing is, but it’s not going in my body unless you unplug it!”
I think about it all the time.
— Sloane Crosley
Ms. Crosley is a writer. Her most recent book is “Grief Is for People.”
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you Monday. — J.B.
Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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The post The Rent Board Delivers a Freeze to Mamdani appeared first on New York Times.
