New York, NY — The Rent Guidelines Board voted Monday night to freeze rents on one-year leases and raise rents by 2 percent on two-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments and lofts.

Seven members of the board voted in favor of the proposal and two abstained. The two abstaining votes came from the two board members representing landlords. The new rent rates will apply for all leases signed starting Oct. 1, 2016 and ending Sept. 31, 2017. Want more New York City news? Sign up for Patch's free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts During the RGB hearing, proposals to both raise and roll back rents across the board failed. In the end, compromise won, but supporters on both sides still felt they lost.

Supporters for a rent rollback far outnumbered anyone else at the meeting. An hour before the vote, a group of picketers formed outside the Cooper Union Grand Hall and chanted for a rent rollback in both English and Spanish.

Dan Kass, founder of JustFix.nyc, a startup that aims to help tenants build cases against exploitative housing, went to the meeting to fight for a rent rollback.

"Last year was this unprecedented rent freeze for the first time in the 40-year history of the RGB. Since that decision last year, things have only gotten more and more difficult for tenants living in New York. So it only continues to make more and more sense that something drastic needs to be done to further support and protect the working-class folks that live here," Kass told Patch. And the cheering didn't stop once people started to move inside. If anything, the sound level intensified as groups of protesters in yellow, orange, red and green T-shirts funneled into the rows of the Grand Hall.

The two landlord representatives on the RBG made the first proposal of the meeting. The proposal called for a raise of 3 percent for one-year leases and 5 percent for two-year leases.

As landlord representative Scott Walsh uttered his recommendation to the board, the sound of his voice was quickly overwhelmed by chants of "rent rollback." The proposal failed by a vote of 7-2.

The second proposal, from tenant representatives, to reduce rents for one-year leases by 4 percent and to reduce rents for two-year leases by 2 percent, also failed by a vote of 7-2. Finally, a third and final proposal was brought forth to freeze rents on 1-year leases and raise rent on 2-year leases by 2 percent.