Mayor Adams praises R.G.B. vote; Speaker Adams: ‘This will harm our communities’

BY THE VILLAGE SUN | The Rent Guidelines Board, for the second straight year under Mayor Adams, voted to hike rents on the city’s 2 million rent-regulated tenants.

At a raucous meeting Wednesday night at Hunter College on the Upper East Side, the R.G.B. voted 5 to 4 to boost rents on the city’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments by 3 percent for one-year leases and 2.75 percent and then 3.2 percent for two-year leases.

Under pro-tenant Mayor de Blasio, the R.G.B. froze rents three times and never raised rents more than 1.5 percent. However, last year, Adams’s first in office, the board boosted rents 3.25 percent for one-year leases and 5 percent for two-year leases — the biggest rent hike since 2013 under Mayor Bloomberg.

Adams, who is a small landlord himself, owning property in Brooklyn, praised the R.G.B. for “finding the right balance.” He urged that more affordable housing must be created — even as the R.G.B. vote means the city’s current stock of affordable apartments just became incrementally less affordable.

“I want to thank the members of the Rent Guidelines Board for their critically important and extremely difficult work protecting tenants from unsustainable rent increases, while also ensuring small property owners have the necessary resources to maintain their buildings and preserve high-quality, affordable homes for New Yorkers,” the mayor said. “Finding the right balance is never easy, but I believe the board has done so this year — as evidenced by affirmative votes from both tenant and public representatives.

“We also know that the real solution to the affordable housing crisis requires building more housing — that means getting New York City the tools we need to build the housing New Yorkers deserve,” Adams said. “That is why we continue to fight for state action on affordable housing incentives, office conversions and other key priorities. And we are using every tool in the city’s toolkit to build more housing more quickly — cutting red tape, making the largest financial commitment to affordable housing in the city’s history, and advancing a ‘City of Yes’ zoning amendment that will clear the way for new housing in every borough.”

Meanwhile, Speaker Adrienne Adams, before the board’s final verdict, called for it to “acknowledge, through its decision at the upcoming June 21 vote, that New York City is facing a housing affordability crisis and limit rent increases.”

“If we continue down the same path as last year,” she warned, “people will be further cost-burdened and housing affordability will be pushed farther into the distance.”

Speaker Adams did not offer a percentage increase that would be acceptable or call for a rent freeze.

Following the R.G.B. vote, the Council leader issued a statement, saying, in part, “The Rent Guidelines Board’s vote to authorize rent increases, while on the lower end of the proposed ranges, will only further exacerbate the homelessness and housing crisis in our communities at a time when New Yorkers can least afford it. As our city grapples with a record-high shelter population, an affordable housing shortage that remains unabated, and rising costs, New York City tenants increasingly struggle to make ends meet. This will harm our communities, deepen the lack of affordability, and make it even more difficult for New Yorkers to remain in their homes and work in the city they love.

“These rent increases will only fuel our housing crisis unless the city budget invests in housing solutions that prevent evictions and homelessness, and ensures city agencies are supported to advance them,” Speaker Adams said. “We urge the mayor to join the Council in supporting housing investments being added to the budget.”

Speaking in support of the final rates, Nestor Davidson, the R.G.B. chairperson, said in a statement, in part, “Some stakeholders have urged us to prioritize one side of this balance over the other. Some have argued that we should set guidelines that respond primarily — in whichever direction — to immediate challenges. Others have argued, conversely, that we should primarily center the long term, discounting recent disruptions. Rather than take either of those approaches, our long-standing practice as a board reflects that we balance both, seeking to ensure the stability of the rent-stabilization system for tenants and owners and preserving this truly foundational aspect of housing in our city.”