Landlords sue NYC RGB, alleging rent-freeze was preordained to fit Mamdani pledge

A group of NYC landlords filed a Staten Island lawsuit against the Rent Guidelines Board, alleging its June decision to freeze rents for two years on about 1 million regulated units was a sham meant to fulfill Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge, with claims the board manipulated data and stacked the deck. The suit seeks to halt the freeze and push for a rent increase, and demands access to communications between RGB and City Hall. Mamdani had campaigned on a rent freeze but said he would defer to the independent board after taking office; a landlord representative resigned amid the controversy. City Hall defends the decision as independent and data-driven, while landlords argue rising ownership costs justify higher rents. Rent stabilization covers roughly 1 million NYC apartments.