Lawsuit alleges process was a sham orchestrated by mayor
The lawsuit, filed in New York state court, targets the Rent Guidelines Board’s vote in June to impose 0% rent increases on both one- and two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments. The board is required by law to review the economic conditions of the residential real-estate industry before voting. The plaintiffs accused the board of cherry-picking data to understate operating costs and overstate the financial performance of landlords.
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who made freezing rents a cornerstone of his 2025 mayoral campaign, appointed a majority of the board’s members. The lawsuit alleges that City Hall representatives gave board members a special briefing on the “true cost of living” in New York City, “leaving no doubt” what the mayor “expected of his handpicked Board supermajority.”
The resignation of a board member representing landlords came hours before the vote. The member said she was stepping down out of frustration that the board had ceased to be a fact-finding body and that her former colleagues intended to freeze rent no matter what the evidence showed, according to the lawsuit.
Mastro, a former deputy mayor under Eric Adams, said in an interview that the mayor’s actions amounted to “a perversion of the process.”
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Rent Guidelines Board declined to comment.
The lawsuit is the first legal challenge to the freeze, which applies to leases beginning on or after Oct. 1. Landlords of rent-stabilized apartments have opposed the freeze since before Mamdani took office, arguing that their properties are already struggling under high interest rates, surging utility costs, rising insurance expenses, and a 2019 state law that tightened rent regulations. Many owners are sitting on large debts and have said banks are reluctant to take over struggling properties, according to the lawsuit.
The board approved a similar rent freeze in 2016 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, and a landlord association lost a legal challenge to that decision. A judge ruled that tenant affordability was one of the factors the board could consider as long as it did so fairly and rationally. Mastro said the new lawsuit is based on different arguments.
Mamdani last week also issued a 23-point plan to address renter complaints, including strengthening the city’s ability to take legal action against negligent landlords with numerous safety violations. Real-estate groups said the plan unfairly demonizes the industry.
Arpit Gupta, the sole board member who voted against the freeze, had called for a more targeted approach in which rent increases are based on the physical condition of a building. “A single number cannot be uniformly applied across a million units,” Gupta said at a May hearing.