Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani named Chantella Mitchell as chair and installed five other picks — three public members, one owner representative, and a tenant reappointment — giving his appointees a majority on the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board.
- New public members are Lauren Melodia, Brandon Mancilla, and Sina Sinai; Maksim Wynn joins as an owner representative, and Adán Soltren is reappointed as a tenant representative, joining holdovers Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth, and Sagar Sharma.
- The RGB will analyze economic data and take public testimony this spring before a June vote, with any changes applying to leases from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027.
- A string of departures and withdrawn late-term picks under former Mayor Eric Adams — capped by the resignation of Alex Armlovich — opened vacancies that enabled Mamdani to shape a board majority.
- Tenant advocates hailed the appointments and pressed for a rent freeze, while landlord groups warned of widespread building distress, threatened legal challenges, and pointed to the mayor’s floated 9.5% property tax hike as an added strain on owners.