Report: Another freeze on 1-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments; 2% for 2-year leases

Long lines to enter the Rent Guidelines Board hearings not damping tenants enthusiasm for a #rentrollback pic.twitter.com/W5UTSxAPXt

— MetCouncilonHousing (@Met_Council) June 27, 2016

Here's part of a report from The New York Times from the Great Hall at Cooper Union last evening:

The board that sets rents for more than one million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City voted on Monday to freeze rents for one-year leases for the second year in a row.

By a vote of 7 to 0, with two abstentions, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board also decided to raise rents by 2 percent for two-year leases, a modest rise that mirrors last year’s. The vote, which came during a typically emotional board meeting, was in keeping with the historically low rent increases that the board had previously approved during the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who appointed the full board.

Head to the Times for full details and the usual drama.

WABC-7 reported that, given the number of people in attendance, it took an hour for tenants to file into Cooper Union.

Per The Wall Street Journal:

Landlord groups criticized the rent freeze, calling it a political move by the mayor and his appointees at a time when local property-tax assessments and other costs have been rising for years. They said owners’ heating costs haven’t fallen as much as the board’s data suggested.

“Another abhorrent illustration of de Blasio’s politics dictating housing policy,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, a group representing building owners.

To recap via Curbed: Now, tenants living in rent-stabilized units, whose leases expire between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017 can renew at the same rate for one-year, and tenants with two-year leases will be able to do so with a two percent increase.