New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and tenant organizers celebrated a “historic victory” on Thursday after the city’s Rent Guidelines Board approved a two-year rent freeze affecting roughly a million apartments—around 40% of NYC’s rental housing.
The freeze, approved in a 7-1 vote, applies to tenants in rent-stabilized apartments on new one- and two-year leases beginning on or after October 1, 2026. Mamdani, whose mayoral campaign platform vowed to “immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants,” said in a statement that the vote provides “the relief that working people across our city deserve.”
The mayor, who named six of the rent board’s nine members, pledged 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.”
“I’m grateful for the board members’ thoughtful consideration of the data, including tenants’ ability to pay, cost of living, and building operating costs,” said Mamdani.
Celebrations broke out in response to the vote, with Gothamist reporting that jubilant tenants erupted in applause and “spilled into the street” to cheer the rent freeze, which marked the first time the city board has paused rent for both one- and two-year leases.
“Hundreds of tenants packed the theater at El Museo del Barrio, singing and chanting about tenant power ahead of the board’s decision,” Gothamist noted. “Many in attendance, who had helped propel Mamdani’s successful campaign for mayor, which featured a viral vow to ‘freeze the rent,’ held signs demanding a rent freeze. At least one attendee blew a whistle to punctuate the slogans resonating through the auditorium.”
Fernanda P., a Brooklyn resident and member of the advocacy group Make the Road New York, said in a statement late Thursday that “our communities have spent years organizing and advocating for a rent freeze, and today our efforts have finally paid off.”
“This rent freeze is a relief for the thousands of New Yorkers, like myself, who are struggling every day to pay for increasingly unaffordable housing,” said Fernanda. “We are so glad to have a partner in Mayor Mamdani who heeded our communities’ years of calls for a rent freeze and understands the needs of working families. We will continue our fight for a New York that is affordable for everybody.”
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