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Mayor Adams appoints 4 Rent Guidelines Board members in move to stymie Mamdani
By
David Brand
Published Dec 18, 2025
Modified Dec 18, 2025
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Adam Gray/Getty Images
By
David Brand
Published Dec 18, 2025
Modified Dec 18, 2025
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Mayor Eric Adams is set to add two new members and reappoint two others to the board that sets the rent for tenants in roughly 1 million stabilized apartments, a move that could stymie a key campaign pledge of soon-to-be Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gothamist has learned.
The gambit would ensure that Adams appointees make up a majority of the nine-member Rent Guidelines Board for at least the next year and complicate Mamdani’s pledge to preside over four consecutive rent freezes.
A city official, one of the appointees and one other person familiar with the decision said Adams will tap Lliam Finn, a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, as one of five public members.
He will also appoint attorney Sagar Sharma, a deputy director with the nonprofit Legal Services NYC, as one of two tenant representatives on the board.
Adams will reappoint two current members to fresh terms: landlord representative Christina Smyth, an attorney; and public member Arpit Gupta, an economist. Another Adams appointee, economist Alex Armlovich, can remain on the board until his term expires at the end of 2026.
“I am confident they will serve as responsible stewards of our city’s housing stock, using facts and data to reach the right decision for both tenants and property owners,” Adams said in a written statement after Gothamist contacted City Hall.
Sharma declined to comment when contacted by Gothamist.
“I’m just happy to serve the city,” Finn said. He declined to provide further comment.
Mamdani said he was still committed to a four-year rent freeze.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to deliver it and last minute appointments do not change these facts,” he said in a written statement.
The Rent Guidelines Board votes each year to raise or, as in three instances in its history, freeze rents on stabilized apartments. The board comprises two tenant representatives, two landlord reps and five ostensibly neutral members tasked with considering economic data and the experiences of both renters and property owners.
Adams’ appointees could choose to ignore Mamdani’s desired outcome when the board holds its annual vote in spring 2026.
Under Adams, the board voted to increase rents by a total of 12% on new one-year leases. Mamdani assailed those decisions and turned his vow to “Freeze the Rent” into a viral campaign slogan.
Mamdani argues that a rent freeze is one immediate method to curb costs and make New York City more affordable for over 2 million tenants.
But landlords, real estate groups and Mamdani’s opponents in the mayoral contest criticized the concept, saying property owners need to increase rents to keep up with costs and turn a profit.
At least one current board member has also opposed the rent freeze commitment.
Alex Schwartz, an urban policy professor at the New School and the board’s longest-serving member, authored an opinion piece in the Daily News last month arguing that the strategy would backfire by worsening housing conditions and blocking one of the few ways landlords can legally raise rent on stabilized units.
Schwartz told Gothamist on Thursday that city officials had not discussed his future on the panel with him, but he said he expects Mamdani to replace him based on his op-ed.
The new appointments mark the culmination of Adams and his top deputy Randy Mastro's monthslong search for board members ahead of Mamdani’s inauguration.
Real state agent Eleonora Srugo said the Adams administration had approached her about a role on the board.
Srugo, a reality TV star and close friend of Adams, told Gothamist that she also declined the position.
Tagged
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new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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