NYC Board Votes For 7 Percent Rent Hike In Stabilized Apartments

NEW YORK CITY — A powerful board has voted to hike rents up to 7 percent for two million New Yorkers.

The Rent Guidelines Board proposed 2 to 5 percent increases for rent stabilized tenants with one-year leases and 4 to 7 percent increase for tenants with two-year leases, in a preliminary vote Tuesday night.

The proposed hikes aren't set in stone — the deciding vote is slated for June 27 — but history shows they'll likely be within range, as the board hasn't strayed far from the preliminary vote in 20 years, data crunched by New York City reporter Emma Whitford show.

If approved, the new rates would apply to rent-stabilized leases signed between Oct. 1, 2023 and Sept. 30 2024.

Before the contentious decision had even been made, chanting protesters leapt onto the stage led by City Council members Tiffany Cabán, Sandy Nurse and Chi Ossé.

"Shame on you," the protesters chanted. "Rent rollback!"

Protesters circled the seated board members, co-opting the mic at one point to demand landlords "open the books."

The rent hike is 9 points lower than a landlord-friendly 16 percent increase board members discussed late last month.

The vote came after the lone rent-stabilized tenant proposed between a 1 percent rollback, or -1 percent rate, and a 2 percent increase.

"I am being asked to consider my own displacement," the board's lone rent-stabilized member said. "I know many of you are going through the same thing."

While landlords say hikes are necessary to cover ballooning operating costs, renters argue any increase would be "immoral" given that rent-stabilized tenants typically spend 33 percent of their incomes on housing.

The decision comes one year after the board controversially approved increases of 3.25 percent and 5 percent, respectively, for one- and two-year leases.

Those hikes were the biggest since former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration.