NEW YORK—The Rent Guidelines Board voted 5-4 to increase rent-stabilized apartments citywide during a virtual meeting held Thursday. 

The preliminary vote signaled to landlords they can increase rents between 2% and 4% for one-year leases and between 4% and 6% for two-year leases. 

For rent-stabilized lofts, the board voted to allow landlords to do the same: increase rents on one-year leases by 2% and 4%, and 4% and 6% on two-year leases.

​The Legal Aid Society, which has been calling for a rent freeze, citing an eviction and homelessness crisis, decried the board’s vote.

“We condemn the Board for voting to increase rents on some of our most vulnerable neighbors, people from low-income communities of color, especially when New Yorkers are still reeling financially from the pandemic and the local unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the country,” said  Adriene Holder. “Tonight’s vote ignores that blatant reality.”

A final vote on the potential hikes is expected in June and will affect leases starting in October.