Mamdani rent freeze hopes survive Adams' late bid to block plan with Rent Guidelines Board picks
Mayor Mamdani’s promise to freeze rents for roughly 2 million New Yorkers survived a late-game challenge when a homeowner advocate on Friday night rejected ex-Mayor Adams’ 11th hour offer for her to serve on the city’s Rent Guidelines Board.
Christie Peale, the CEO of Center for NYC Neighborhoods, was quietly nominated by Adams on Wednesday, his final day in office, to become a member on the board, which sets the rates landlords of stabilized apartments can legally raise rents by each year. Her nomination, among others, was made with the apparent goal of seating an Adams-appointed majority to block Mamdani’s campaign pledge to freeze rents for the city’s roughly 2 million stabilized tenants.
But in a statement on Friday night, Peale said that she isn’t accepting Adams’ appointment. The rejection came after the Daily News first reported earlier in the day on Adams’ effort to install her on the board.
“I decided it was not appropriate for my nomination to the Rent Guidelines Board to move forward at this time,” said Peale, whose organization provides legal assistance and other services for low-income homeowners in the city.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/01/02/adams-11th-hour-rent-guidelines-board-moves-may-have-derailed-mamdanis-rent-freeze-promise/