Rent Board Vote Nears As Mamdani Appoints Six New Members

NEW YORK, NY — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani appointed six members to New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board, reshaping the panel that will soon vote on rent adjustments for roughly one million stabilized apartments, lofts and single-room occupancy units.

Chantella Mitchell will serve as chair of the nine-member board, which sets annual rent increases for units covered under the city’s rent stabilization law. Sina Sinai, Lauren Melodia and Brandon Mancilla will serve as public members. Maksim Wynn will serve as an owner representative. Adán Soltren will continue as a tenant representative.

They join Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth and Sagar Sharma on the board.

The Rent Guidelines Board operates as an independent body. Each spring, it reviews research, hears expert testimony and collects public comment before voting on rent adjustments for leases that begin between Oct. 1, 2026, and Sept. 30, 2027.

“I’m confident that, under the leadership of Chantella Mitchell as chair, the board will take a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city’s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York," Mamdani said.

Mitchell, a program director at the New York Community Trust, leads grantmaking in community development, housing, workforce development and social work education. She previously served as an executive director in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Office of Development and worked on the Housing and Economic Development Taskforce at the Office of Management and Budget.

“I am honored by this appointment and the opportunity to serve,” Mitchell said. “Rent-stabilized housing plays a critical role in New York City’s housing market, and I look forward to working with my fellow board members and the RGB staff to carry out the Board’s vital mission.”

Sinai serves as a senior research associate at the Jain Family Institute, where he develops analytical tools for public financial institutions. Melodia directs economic and fiscal policy at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. Mancilla serves as Region 9A director of the United Auto Workers, overseeing union operations across the Northeast and Puerto Rico.

Wynn directs development at Procida Development Group and has worked at the city’s Department of Homeless Services and HPD. Soltren, a supervising attorney in the Housing Justice Unit at the Legal Aid Society, also teaches at Columbia Law School and has served as chair of the board of Settlement Health.

In the coming months, the board will publish data on housing costs, vacancy rates and broader economic conditions. Members will hold public hearings in each borough before voting on a preliminary range for rent adjustments and later setting final increases that will apply to next year’s stabilized leases.