Mamdani Appoints Six New Members to Rent Guidelines Board

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced six new appointments for the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), after running on a promise to freeze the rent for New York City’s roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments.

The RGB adjusts the rents for these units, which are divided up into one-year and two-year leases, on an annual basis. Last year, the RGB hiked rents for one-year leases—those signed after last Oct. 1, and before September 30 of this year–by three percent. Two-year leases saw hikes of 4.5 percent.

During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani promised that his selections for the RGB will instead vote on a zero-percent increase (or “rent freeze”); this means that the new board arrivals may ultimately end up fulfilling Mamdani’s goal.

Officially, according to Mamdani’s office, the RGB will take into account the following considerations when it comes to proposed rent adjustments: “The economic condition of housing in New York City, current and projected cost-of-living trends, overall housing supply and vacancy rates, tenants’ ability to pay rent, staff research and public testimony.”

The nearest meeting on whether to hike rates would come this summer, at the earliest, and would apply to leases that are signed this October. The members on the board are split into public representatives, tenant representatives, owner representatives, and a board chair.

According to the mayor’s office, Chantella Mitchell will serve as board chair. New public representatives on the board will include Sina Sinai, Lauren Melodia and Brandon Mancille. Adán Soltren will be a new tenant representative, while Maksim Wynn will be a new owner representative.

The new members are joining current members Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth and Sagar Sharma.

“I’m proud to appoint these housing, finance, and budget experts to fill the open seats on the Rent Guidelines Board,” Mayor Mamdani said in a statement.

“I’m confident that, under the leadership of Chantella Mitchell as chair, the board will take a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city’s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York,” he added.

Mitchell, the new chair, is a program director at a famed community foundation known as The New York Community Trust. According to Mamdani’s office, she leads grant-making there for an array of causes—including housing. She also serves as co-chair of both the Change Capital Fund and the New York City Workforce Funders Collaborative.

Mitchell also has experience in city government, where she served at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

“I am honored by this appointment and the opportunity to serve. Rent-stabilized housing plays a critical role in New York City’s housing market, and I look forward to working with my fellow board members and the RGB staff to carry out the Board’s vital mission,” Mitchell said in a statement.

In the past, the RGB’s owner members—who represent the landlords responsible for overseeing the city’s rent-stabilized housing stock—have often been the most vocal supporters of rent hike adjustments.

Maksim Wynn, Mamdani’s new owner member appointment, is the director of development at Procida Development Group. Wynn, who has also worked at HPD and the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), specializes in affordable housing and transitional housing at Procida.