NYC landlords challenge mayor-backed rent freeze for about 1 million units

New York City landlords filed a Staten Island lawsuit to block the Rent Guidelines Board’s approval of a rent freeze on roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. They allege Mayor Zohran Mamdani influenced the board and that data was manipulated to justify the policy, which the board voted 7-1 to implement for leases signed after Oct. 1. The suit cites a City Hall briefing and the resignation of a landlord representative as evidence of compromised independence, a tactic landlords have unsuccessfully pursued in past challenges to rent control.