Two days after three of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's endorsed congressional candidates won their elections in the New York primaries, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) delivered another win for the mayor.
On Thursday night, the board voted 7–1 to freeze the rent for 1 million apartments in the city. The rent freeze applies to both one- and two-year leases, and prevents rent increases for more than 40 percent of apartments in the city, reports The New York Times. Those apartments that are covered by the freeze include "high-rise luxury apartments, deeply affordable subsidized units and 150-year-old walk-ups," according to the Times.
Freezing the rent was one of Mamdani's key campaign promises (remember this?), and one that depended on support from the RGB, which is now largely filled with Mamdani's appointees.
New York University Stern School of Business professor Arpit Gupta was the lone dissenting vote. On Thursday, he outlined his opposition to the rental freeze in City Journal, warning that "freezing the price of a service indefinitely while its costs continue to rise does not produce cheap or abundant service. Instead, it produces deteriorating ******* ets and, eventually, public bailouts and takeovers."
Although Mamdani claims rental freezes ensure affordability, Gupta argued these measures benefit New Yorkers based on luck, not need.
"The protection offered by a stabilized lease is effectively a transferable property right, one that can be held for life and, in practice, is often passed down to other family members," he wrote. "A rent freeze increases the value of that right, turning the benefit into something closer to a lottery prize than targeted welfare ******* istance."
On Thursday night, the board voted 7–1 to freeze the rent for 1 million apartments in the city. The rent freeze applies to both one- and two-year leases, and prevents rent increases for more than 40 percent of apartments in the city, reports The New York Times. Those apartments that are covered by the freeze include "high-rise luxury apartments, deeply affordable subsidized units and 150-year-old walk-ups," according to the Times.
Freezing the rent was one of Mamdani's key campaign promises (remember this?), and one that depended on support from the RGB, which is now largely filled with Mamdani's appointees.
New York University Stern School of Business professor Arpit Gupta was the lone dissenting vote. On Thursday, he outlined his opposition to the rental freeze in City Journal, warning that "freezing the price of a service indefinitely while its costs continue to rise does not produce cheap or abundant service. Instead, it produces deteriorating ******* ets and, eventually, public bailouts and takeovers."
Although Mamdani claims rental freezes ensure affordability, Gupta argued these measures benefit New Yorkers based on luck, not need.
"The protection offered by a stabilized lease is effectively a transferable property right, one that can be held for life and, in practice, is often passed down to other family members," he wrote. "A rent freeze increases the value of that right, turning the benefit into something closer to a lottery prize than targeted welfare ******* istance."
2 months ago
