New York building owners have filed a lawsuit to nullify a rent freeze measure spearheaded by New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani.
According to Bloomberg on the 22nd, five small building owners in New York City filed a lawsuit in a New York State court seeking to cancel the rent freeze decision by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB).
The plaintiffs argue that Mayor Mamdani unfairly intervened in the voting process of the independent board to fulfill a key election promise, and that the decision was made in a dysfunctional manner while ignoring relevant data, such as rising operating costs for building owners.
They stated that Mayor Mamdani filled the committee with close associates who favoured the rent freeze, while simultaneously using millions of dollars of city funds to fill the hearing room with tenants.
The plaintiffs’ legal counsel is Randy Mastro, who served as Deputy Mayor under former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Mastro criticized the process, stating, “It was a mere formality controlled by Mayor Mamdani’s unilateral orders,” and added, “An administrative decision by an independent commission should not be made in this manner.”
Earlier, the New York City Rent Guide Commission voted on the 25th of last month to freeze rents for one million units in rent-stabilized apartments. Consequently, rents for one- and two-year leases beginning after October 1 will be frozen.
Rent-stabilized apartments are those where the city has imposed rent increase restrictions on older housing complexes to protect tenants.
Mayor Mamdani, who previously lived in such an apartment, made the rent freeze a key campaign promise during the election, and he has now fulfilled that pledge just six months after taking office.