“We’re hands-on property owners,” he said. “We take pride in our buildings. But if they pass a lot of these proposals I don’t think we’d be able to maintain my buildings in the manner my tenants are accustomed to having them maintained.”

Mr. Athineos said he routinely installed new kitchens and plumbing not necessarily to raise rents, but to prevent higher maintenance costs down the road in his buildings, which are more than 90 years old on average.

Without the incentives, he said, he would likely put off renovations.

“These politicians know nothing about running housing. These are the people running Nycha,” he said referring to the dismal conditions of the New York City Housing Authority.

Are changes likely?

Short answer: Yes.

If real estate insiders and housing activists agree on one thing, it’s that Democratic-control of the legislature — for only the third time in more than half a century — all but ensures state rent laws will be revised this year.

But it’s too early to determine what the changes might look like.

Many activists and left-wing lawmakers have grown wary after the most recent budget cycle, which they said failed to deliver on key progressive policies. Others remain skeptical of Mr. Cuomo, who has raised millions of dollars from the real estate industry.

As Cea Weaver, the campaign coordinator of Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of tenant groups, put it: “I wouldn’t take anything for granted in Albany.”