New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday announced the appointment of six members to the Rent Guidelines Board, giving him a majority of appointees to possibly deliver his campaign promise of a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments.
Chantella Mitchell will serve as the chair of the RGB; Sina Sinai, Lauren Melodia and Brandon Mancilla have been appointed as public representatives; Maksim Wynn will serve as an owner representative; and Adán Soltren has been reappointed as a tenant representative.
The appointees have extensive experience in housing, financing, budgeting and public policy. They join Arpit Gupta, Christina Smyth and Sagar Sharma on the nine-member board, the mayor said.
"I’m confident that, under the leadership of Chantella Mitchell as chair, the board will take a clear-eyed look at the complex housing landscape and the realities facing our city’s two million rent-stabilized tenants, and help us move closer to a fairer, more affordable New York," Mamdani said in a statement. "At a moment when so many families are struggling to stay in their homes, this work could not be more important."
In the coming months, the board will consider a variety of factors in setting adjustments, including the economic condition of housing in New York City, current and projected cost-of-living trends, overall housing supply and vacancy rates, tenants’ ability to pay rent, staff research and public testimony.
There were three board members who resigned or signalled their intent to leave this month, according to The City.
This spring, the RGB will collect and publish data and hear expert testimony before setting a preliminary range for rent adjustments. The Board will then hold public hearings across the five boroughs, inviting members of the public to testify. Finally, the RGB will vote on a final rent adjustment, which will apply to leases with effective dates between October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2027.
Chantella Mitchell, Chair
Chantella Mitchell is a program director at the New York Community Trust, where she leads grantmaking in community development, housing, workforce development and social work education and practice. She is co-chair of both the Change Capital Fund and the New York City Workforce Funders Collaborative.
She previously worked for the City of New York, including as an executive director at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Office of Development, and on the Housing and Economic Development Taskforce at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Sina Sinai, Public Member
Sina Sinai is a senior research associate at the Jain Family Institute, where he conducts research and builds analytical tools that support public financial institutions in meeting their development objectives. He previously worked as a data scientist at startups and political organizations and began his career as a quantitative analyst.
Lauren Melodia, Public Member
Lauren Melodia is director of Economic and Fiscal Policy at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. She previously served as the deputy director of Macroeconomic Analysis at the Roosevelt Institute and has worked at various nonprofit advocacy organizations across New York City and State to advance economic justice.
Brandon Mancilla, Public Member
Brandon Mancilla is Region 9A Director of the United Auto Workers, overseeing collective bargaining and union operations in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Puerto Rico, and serving on the UAW's International Executive Board. He was the first president of UAW Local 5118 and previously worked as a staff organizer for UAW Local 2325, representing staff at legal services and housing non-profit organizations in New York City.
Maksim Wynn, Owner Member
Maksim Wynn is director of Development at Procida Development Group, where he manages the development of affordable and transitional housing in New York City. He previously worked at the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) and at HPD.
Adán Soltren, Tenant Member
Adán Soltren is a supervising attorney in the Housing Justice Unit Group Advocacy practice at the Legal Aid Society and currently serves as a tenant representative on the RGB. He also teaches as a lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School and previously served as chair of the Board of Directors for Settlement Health. Soltren previously ran a legal partnership specializing in immigration law in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
