A member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board resigned Thursday just hours before the board was expected to decide whether to freeze rents for millions of rent-stabilized tenants.
Christina Smyth, one of two landlord representatives on the board, posted her resignation letter on LinkedIn, criticizing the process ahead of the final vote.
“The record is now being built to fit a decision that was made before the first hearing was held,” Smyth wrote.
She also claimed the board would be acting outside its limits if it voted to freeze rents while disregarding evidence of rising costs and falling income for property owners.
Last month, the Rent Guidelines Board set a preliminary range of 0% to 2% increases for one-year leases and 0% to 4% increases for two-year leases, keeping a rent freeze on the table for more than a million rent-stabilized tenants.
Smyth was the only member to vote against that range. The other landlord representative abstained.
Rent Guidelines Board Chair Chantella Mitchell responded to Smyth’s resignation on Thursday, saying the final vote would still move forward. Mitchell said the board has acted independently and with integrity throughout the process.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani also defended the board’s independence when asked about the resignation by News 12 political reporter Heather Fordham.
“I am aware of the resignation and this Rent Guidelines Board is an independent board,” Mamdani said.
He added that the board “has been conducting a process over the last many months that includes fact-finding as well as testimonies, and I look forward to the outcome and decision that they will make. It’s an independent board and we trust them to make the decision that they come to.”
Mamdani appointed six of the board’s nine members, including Mitchell and the other landlord representative.
The board is expected to make its final decision Thursday night.
