Residents of Queens made their voices heard Monday night at a Rent Guidelines Board public hearing on an impending rent hike.

Many in the audience at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center lifted signs as one by one, residents testified saying people are suffering from high rents.

"I see more and more of my neighbors being displaced because they are on fixed incomes and their income doesn't rise. And the [board] passed a huge increase last year," Queens resident Sabah Munawar said.

Monday night was the second of four public hearings planned by the Rent Guidelines Board.

They are considering increases approved in a preliminary vote last month. The proposed increase is between 2% and 5% for one-year leases and between 4% and 7% for new two-year leases.

"What I do know now is you simply cannot get more rent from people who simply do not have it," city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.

Many landlords have cited increasing building maintenance costs for wanting an even higher increase than the ones proposed.

Officials with the Rent Stabilization Association advised landlords to not testify in-person out of fear of hostility from tenants. Instead, they were encouraged to testify during a virtual hearing Tuesday night.

"This will guarantee that their testimony will not be disrupted, silenced and drowned out. All voices must be heard in this process — especially the voices of small building owners, the largest providers of affordable housing in the five boroughs," Michael Tobman, the director of membership and communications of the Rent Stabilization Association, said in a statement.