Appointing Rent Guidelines Board Members to Implement Historic Freeze and Build 200,000 New Units
Tackling the Housing Affordability Crisis
One of Zohran Mamdani’s most publicized campaign promises is a complete freeze on rent increases for the city’s 2 million residents living in rent-stabilized apartments. This pledge represents an attempt to address the existential affordability crisis pushing families out of New York City. To implement the freeze, Mamdani will appoint nine members to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), the body that sets maximum allowable rent increases for stabilized apartments. Eight of the nine current board members’ terms expire upon his inauguration, enabling him to reshape the board’s composition almost entirely. According to CBS New York, Mamdani stated during his campaign: “Only appointing those who understand that landlords are doing just fine. Last March, the board found that landlord incomes rose by nearly twice the increase of their expenses. The median income for a rent stabilized household is $60,000 a year. Any rent hike could push them out of this city.”
The Mechanics and Challenges
While the mayor does not have unilateral power to set rents, appointing members sympathetic to his position significantly influences board decisions. As TIME Magazine reported, former Mayor de Blasio successfully enacted a rent freeze during his tenure through similar board appointments. However, City Journal analysis indicates substantial legal and economic obstacles. Board members cited their legal mandate to consider economic data and landlord costs. One member noted that “a long rent freeze would be very financially damaging to the city’s housing stock,” pointing to cascading effects including deteriorating maintenance, increased vacancy, and pressure on non-stabilized rental markets.
Comprehensive Housing Strategy
To address these concerns, Mamdani has proposed a complementary housing strategy. His platform commits to constructing 200,000 permanently affordable, rent-stabilized units over the next decade–tripling current production. He supports fast-tracking 100% affordable developments and fully staffing city housing agencies to accelerate approvals. Additionally, Mamdani plans to crack down on bad landlords through enhanced code enforcement, create an Office of Deed Theft to combat predatory property practices, and overhaul the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. Reports indicate recent ballot measures, all of which passed, created fast-track approval processes for affordable housing and established an Affordable Housing Appeals Board with power to overturn city council vetoes on qualifying projects. These structural reforms complement Mamdani’s rent stabilization efforts, suggesting a multi-pronged approach to the crisis rather than reliance on a single policy lever.
