BY MARYANA AVERYANOVA
On the eve of rent increases affecting more than one million rent-stabilized apartments, hundreds of New Yorkers marched Tuesday evening from 86th Street and Second Avenue to Gracie Mansion, demanding a rent freeze and denouncing Mayor Eric Adams’ housing policies. It happened just two days after he dropped out of the 2025 mayoral race.
This protest, organized by Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), Met Council On Housing, NewYork Communities for Change, and other tenant groups, called out what participants described as “landlord-backed politics” that prioritize profits over people. The Rent Guidelines Board, appointed under Adams, approved rent increases of 3 percent for one-year leases and 4.5 percent for two-year leases on June 30. The new rates went into effect on October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, according to the city’s official guidelines.
“A rent freeze isn’t an option — it’s a must,” said Joanne Grell, member leader of CASA. “We’ve been fighting all year, and we’re going to get it. Even after Adams is gone, we’ll still be suffering from the rent hikes he left behind.”
For many tenants, the impact is personal and immediate. Grell said her own rent will rise by $125 a month, a cost that “hits hard.”
Maria Berry, 70, said she joined because “the government isn’t doing anything to protect poor or working-class people. We can’t afford higher rents. They cut programs that help us just to keep the profits for themselves.”
Organizers and participants emphasized that housing is becoming the defining issue in the city’s post-Adams political landscape, with growing support for candidate Zohran Mamdani, who has promised to “immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need.”
“We’ll have to keep fighting,” said Lina Rénique-Poole, a tenant advocate with Los Sures, a Williamsburg based housing organization. “Hopefully actions like this make people realize that New Yorkers don’t want another rent hike. Tenants are looking for a mayor who stands up for them.”
Kasey McNaughton, Director of Organizing at The Youth Alliance for Housing (YAH), said that increases are already forcing residents to make impossible choices. “In my neighborhood, it’s the difference between being able to go to the doctor and paying rent on time,” McNaughton said. “A rent freeze is the least the city can do.”
Protestors marched east on 86th Street, waving signs and shouting familiar chants that echoed off the buildings “If we don’t get it – shut it down!” or “Housing is a human right!” and “The tenants, united, will never be defeated!”
“Eric Adams came in as a landlord-friendly mayor and stacked the Rent Guidelines Board with landlord voices,” said Anne Perryman, President of the Association of Tenants at Lincoln Towers. “We’ve had four straight years of rent increases. But Zohran Mamdani represents the future of this city. He has energized young people to fight back and demand a rent freeze. That gives me hope.”
As marchers reached Gracie Mansion under chants of “Freeze the Rent,” the crowd projected their hope onto the next mayor. Additionally, with Adams no longer running, organizers and tenants believe this may be their best chance yet to make housing affordability a central plank in the city’s future. As Grell said,“Eighty percent of New Yorkers believe in a rent freeze.”