Key Points
- The Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 to freeze rents on stabilized leases
- 0% increases on both one- and two-year leases, Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027
- It is the first time the board has frozen two-year leases
- More than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments are affected
Mayor Zohran Mamdani got his rent freeze. The New York City Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 Thursday night to set 0% increases on both one- and two-year rent-stabilized leases for the year beginning Oct. 1, delivering on the central promise of his mayoral campaign. Mamdani called it a "historic victory for New York City tenants."
What the board did
The board adopted 0% adjustments for one-year leases and 0% for two-year leases running Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027 — the first time it has ever frozen a two-year lease. More than 1 million rent-stabilized apartments are covered. An owner representative, Christina Smyth, resigned in protest earlier Thursday, leaving the board with a single owner representative for the final vote.
From promise to consequence
A rent freeze is the rare campaign promise that is binary — you either deliver the number or you don't — and Mamdani delivered 0%, then went a step past his own pledge to the first two-year freeze in the board's history. He has spent his early run leaning into populist, cost-of-living wins, from $50 World Cup tickets for city residents and Brooklyn-made $50 jerseys to his turn at the Knicks championship parade. The fight now moves from the campaign to the building ledger: landlords warn that freezing rents on a million units squeezes maintenance and the city's housing supply — the tension between affordability and ownership that will define his term.
How the freeze works for your next lease
The 0% freeze applies to rent-stabilized lease renewals that begin on or after October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027. Renewals that start before October 1 still fall under the prior rates — 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases — so the start date on your renewal offer is what matters.
It covers rent-stabilized apartments only; market-rate leases are not affected unless a local “good cause” eviction law caps increases. Not sure whether your unit is stabilized? Request your apartment's rental history from the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) at portal.hcr.ny.gov/app/ask and choose “Apartment Rent History” under “Reason.”
If a landlord tries to raise a frozen stabilized rent anyway, that is an overcharge: you can file a complaint with HCR or take it to Housing Court or state Supreme Court, and the 2019 tenant-protection expansion allows triple-damage claims — though HCR is understaffed and cases can drag on. The City Reporter has a fuller step-by-step for tenants.
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