The Rent Guidelines Board got its first hard look at landlord finances Thursday, and the numbers complicate Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s signature promise to freeze rents on nearly a million regulated apartments across the city.
Landlords of rent-regulated buildings saw their net operating income rise 6.2% between 2023 and 2024, according to the board’s 2026 income and expense study. It marks the third consecutive year of increases. Rental income grew 4.8% over that same period, total income climbed 4.9%, and expenses rose 4.2%. Taxes remained the heaviest cost, accounting for more than a quarter of total expenses.
“Revenues generally exceed operating costs, generating funds for mortgage payments, improvements and pre-tax profit,” said Brian Hoberman, the board’s research director, presenting the findings at a Lower Manhattan meeting Thursday.
That data now sits at the center of a political and financial fight that will shape housing costs for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. The board’s nine members are required by law to weigh the cost of living and conditions of the real estate industry before casting their votes. A preliminary vote on increases is scheduled for May, with the final vote coming in June.
Mamdani rode “freeze the rent” to Gracie Mansion last year. The phrase became a call-and-response at campaign rallies and a closing argument his canvassers made at thousands of apartment doors. But the mayor cannot freeze rents by executive order. That power rests with the independent Rent Guidelines Board, and the board members are obligated to weigh financial data like what was released Thursday.
Mamdani has moved aggressively to shape the board’s direction. He appointed five new members this year and reappointed one existing member, giving him a majority of picks. Whether that majority delivers a freeze is the question hovering over every piece of data the board now reviews.
Last year’s board voted to raise rents 3% on one-year leases and 4.5% on two-year leases. That outcome frustrated both tenants who wanted relief and landlords who argued the increases still fell short of their actual costs.
Both camps made their arguments again Thursday. Landlord groups and some housing analysts contend that even modest increases are necessary to maintain aging buildings and cover rising operating expenses. Tenant advocates counter that rent-stabilized tenants are already financially stretched and that a freeze is the only responsible path forward.
Mark Willis, a senior policy fellow at NYU’s Furman Center, framed the board’s challenge bluntly. He called it an “impossible task” to simultaneously protect affordability, keep buildings financially viable, and maintain the city’s existing housing stock. “Satisfying both goals is impossible in a world with inflation,” Willis said. “Not all tenants find their incomes going up at the rate of inflation, yet building operating costs keep going up, sometimes at a rate even faster than inflation.”
The board’s analysis covered more than 16,600 buildings, and the data showed wide variation across boroughs and building types. Income and rental growth did not move uniformly across the city. Buildings in the Bronx, where rent-stabilized housing represents an especially large share of the overall stock, showed distinct trends worth watching as the board continues its deliberations.
The numbers released Thursday will not be the last word. The board typically releases additional studies examining price indices and housing supply conditions before the preliminary vote. Each new report adds more data for members to weigh, and potentially more ammunition for advocates on both sides.
What the income and expense study does establish clearly is that the regulated housing sector, in aggregate, is not in financial distress. Net operating income grew for the third straight year. Whether board members view that as evidence that landlords can absorb a freeze, or as a fragile margin that shouldn’t be squeezed further, will define how the next two months unfold.
Mamdani bet his campaign on a promise that required someone else to keep it. The board he has worked to reshape is now sitting with the numbers. The vote that actually matters comes in June.
