Why It Matters: Amid a housing crisis, the rent vote is a flashpoint.
Rent-stabilized apartments make up about 44 percent of all New York City rentals, and are home to roughly two million people.
The median rent in rent-stabilized apartments is $1,400, more than 20 percent lower than that of unregulated apartments, according to a recent city survey, making the homes a crucial source of lower-cost housing in one of the most expensive cities in the nation.
And the median household income of people living in rent-stabilized apartments is around $44,000, more than 33 percent lower than that of tenants in unregulated apartments, according to city estimates.
That makes the board’s annual vote a tense flashpoint in the long-running dispute between renters and landlords over the cost of living.
Tenant groups said they were disappointed by the range approved. Leah Goodridge, a former tenant representative on the board and managing attorney for housing policy at the Mobilization for Justice, a nonprofit legal services group, said she appreciated members of the City Council leading a protest at the meeting.
“This is literally about survival in New York City and a lot of people are angry for good reason,” she said. “They’re being pushed out and it’s important to have leaders that signal ‘I’m going to fight.’”
Landlord groups said the range approved on Tuesday was not enough to cover their expenses.
“This preliminary range falls short of the rent adjustments needed to preserve aging stabilized apartment buildings faced with constantly increasing costs,” said Michael Tobman, a spokesman for the Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord group, in testimony to the board last week.
Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that he hoped the board “will look at options below the top of these preliminary ranges to strike the right balance to keep New Yorkers in their homes while providing building owners with the resources they need to provide safe, high-quality homes.”
Background: Rent froze during the pandemic but rose last year.
The rent-stabilization system was established in 1969. It is designed to insulate renters from sharp increases in rent. (It is separate from New York’s smaller rent-control program.)
The members of the Rent Guidelines Board are all appointed by the mayor and include two representatives for owners, two for tenants and five for the public. The board’s annual votes represent one of the few ways the mayor can directly address the city’s housing costs.
Last year, the board voted 5 to 4 to raise rents on one-year leases by 3.25 percent in rent-stabilized homes and on two-year leases by 5 percent — the highest increases in almost a decade.
That vote was the first during the tenure of Mr. Adams, who has been more sympathetic to landlords’ worries than his predecessor, Bill de Blasio.
What’s Next? The final vote is in June.
The vote to determine the final increases is likely to take place in June. For at least the past 20 years, the final figures have matched the outcome of the preliminary vote.