The Legal Aid Society is condemning the New York City Rent Guidelines Board over a recently issued report which calls for increasing rents on low-income New Yorkers who reside in rent stabilized apartments. The findings recommend a 2.7 to 4.5 percent increase for one-year leases and a 4.3 to 9 percent increase on two-year leases.

“Any proposed increase, let alone one of this severity, would have a crushing impact on some of our city’s most vulnerable residents. New Yorkers are still reeling financially from the pandemic, and keeping people housed in units they can afford must remain top of mind,” said Adriene Holder, Attorney-In-Charge of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society.

“We call on the Board to hear the cries from low-income tenants, the overwhelming majority from Black and Latinx neighborhoods, and commit to an outright freeze that would allow our clients to remain safely in their homes,” she continued.

During this time of great uncertainty and inflation, Legal Aid is calling for an indefinite rent freeze for New York’s most vulnerable tenants.