Mamdani froze the rent for a million New Yorkers these Bronx tenants say he left them behind

New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board made history Thursday night, voting to freeze one- and two-year leases on nearly 1 million stabilized apartments in a landmark 7-1 decision that fulfilled Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s signature campaign promise. But, in The Bronx, the celebrations didn’t reach Tracey Towers — a 38- and 41-story affordable housing complex.Its landlord, RY Management, formally requested an increase earlier this month that would raise rents 15% in the first year, followed by 5% in each of the next two years and 3% in the fourth, compounding to a total of 30.59%. That’s because the complex is part of the city’s Mitchell-Lama program, a mid-century initiative that secured affordable rents through tax breaks and low-interest loans to developers. Last night’s freeze covers rent-stabilized apartments in buildings with six or more units built before 1974.Tracey Towers, completed that same year, is governed by an entirely different program — one with no rent cap, no guidelines board oversight and no mechanism to shield its 871 households from what could be the steepest rent increase they have ever seen.Unlike stabilized apartments, where the Rent Guidelines Board votes each year on allowable increases, Mitchell-Lama developments are overseen by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development — and state law requires HPD to approve rent hikes sufficient to cover a building’s operating costs. The mayor’s influence over the Rent Guidelines Board, which was central to delivering Thursday’s freeze, simply does not extend here.A one-bedroom currently renting for $1,344 would climb to roughly $1,750 by the end of the phase-in.The juxtaposition is creating a political problem for a mayor whose brand is built on tenant relief. Six elected officials, including City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, sent Mamdani a letter Thursday — hours before the freeze vote — arguing that he has “...