Some 2 million New York City residents who rent their apartments will see their payments halted for a year in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Rent Guidelines Board, which sets the rent for the city’s rent-regulated apartments, voted 6-3 Wednesday night to implement a one-year freeze from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, at the behest of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The freeze also applies to the first year of two-year leases and allows landlords to enact a 1 percent increase in the second year.
“Renters have never faced hardship like this,” de Blasio said in a statement on the freeze.