Last night the Rent Guidelines Board—the nine-member panel that sets annual rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments while an angry crowd berates them—voted in favor of increasing rents once again, and as expected the increases were on the lower end of the proposed range. By a 5-4 vote after much debate and maneuvering, increases of 3% on one-year leases and 6% on two-year leases were approved. Tenant groups demanded a rent freeze due to the recession, and landlord groups wanted larger increases because of rising operating costs (last year's hikes were 4.5% and 8.5%), so neither side got what they wanted. Though the Post—which gives us the chart seen at right—reports that board members had to wear headphones to hear each other over the crowd, the Times notes that the atmosphere was relatively subdued thanks to a silent protest (tenants wearing tape with "0%" written on it over their mouths) and a walk-out after a motion to freeze rents was shot down.
