Among the campaign promises that helped propel Zohran Mamdani to the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City, his pledge to ¡°freeze the rent¡± is at once the most radical sounding and the easiest to accomplish. In fact, it¡¯s been accomplished multiple times over the past decade.
The mayor chooses the nine members of the city¡¯s Rent Guidelines Board, which every year determines the allowable rent increase for the city¡¯s nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The members¡¯ terms are staggered, so a new mayor can¡¯t replace them all immediately, but with the two tenant representatives certain to favor a freeze, it would take only three of the five members appointed to represent the public to get to a majority (there are also two owner representatives, who would, of course, oppose a freeze). During Bill de Blasio¡¯s tenure as mayor, the board voted for no rent increases on one-year leases in 2015, 2016 and 2020 ¡ª as well as 0% for the first six months and 1.5% for the last six in 2021.
So, yes, Mamdani could deliver a rent freeze. Whether he should requires a longer answer.
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