The New York City Rent Guidelines Board on Tuesday cast a preliminary vote in favor of hikes for rent-stabilized apartment tenants.
The board is considering increases of 2% to 4.5% for one-year leases and 4% to 6.5% for two-year leases. Approximately 1 million apartments in the city are rent-stabilized.
Last year, the board voted to approve 3% hikes for one-year leases, 2.75% hikes for the first year of two-year leases and 3.2% hikes for the second year of two-year leases.
The board’s final vote is scheduled to take place on June 17. The new rents would apply to leases starting Oct. 1 of this year.
In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams urged the board to stick to the low end of its range.
“Tenants are feeling the squeeze of a decades-long affordability crisis, which has been accelerated by restrictive zoning laws and inadequate tools that have made it harder and harder to build housing,” Adams said.
“Our team is taking a close look at the preliminary ranges voted on by the Rent Guidelines Board this evening and while the Board has the challenging task of striking a balance between protecting tenants from infeasible rent increases and ensuring property owners can maintain their buildings as costs continue to rise, I must be clear that a 6.5% increase goes far beyond what is reasonable to ask tenants to take on at this time,” he added.