In a historic move, the city's Rent Guidelines Board voted Monday to freeze rents for rent-stabilized tenants with one-year leases.

The 7-2 vote drew cheers from tenants and their advocates.

It was the first rent freeze in the board's 46-year history.

In addition to the 0 percent increases for one-year leases, a 2 percent increase was agreed upon for rent-stabilized tenants with two-year leases.

An analysis showed landlord costs were up by only .5 percent, the lowest increase in years.

Landlords and their advocates were hoping for a 3 percent increase. They said the numbers don't paint a true picture.

"Those tenants are going to suffer because owners without any additional income are going to have no choice but to cut back on services," said Jack Freund of the Rent Stabilization Association.

Tenants were hoping for a rollback, but those NY1 spoke with still called it a victory.



"I'm feeling great," said one tenant. "I'm going to go back and tell all the tenants in my community that we won."

The vote was held at Cooper Union's Great Hall on East 7th Street.

This is the first time all nine members of the board appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio have voted on a rent decision. De Blasio took office in January of 2014.

The board regulates rents for more than 1 million tenants.



New rents go into effect on October 1.

