New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board has officially approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s two-year rent freeze proposal for 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, in a 7-1 vote that likely had landlords reaching for their calculators.

The independent board, which is made up of mayoral appointees, decided that rent-stabilized apartments in buildings constructed before 1974 - and those with certain tax breaks - would see no rent increases from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2027.

This isn’t the board’s first rodeo with rent freezes; they did it under former Mayor Bill de Blasio before Eric Adams reversed course and allowed increases. Now, Mamdani is bringing the freeze back, presumably to the delight of tenants and the quiet despair of property owners.

Activists celebrated the vote by pouring into the streets of East Harlem, where the meeting took place at El Museo del Barrio. According to The New York Times, organizers were thrilled, though it remains to be seen if landlords will try to recoup their losses by charging extra for air.