(DNAINFO)  Amy Zimmer | July 2, 2017 — The city’s roughly 1.6 million rent-stabilized tenants will soon see modest rent increases — which are more than what tenant advocates hoped for but less than what landlords wanted.

The Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-2 Tuesday night to raise rents by a 1.25 percent for one-year leases and 2 percent for two-year leases.

The vote affects leases renewed on or after Oct. 1.

These increases marked the end of two unprecedented years of rent freezes on one-year leases.

“Taken together, the past four years have seen the lowest guidelines in history — including the first two freezes ever,” mayoral spokeswoman Melissa Grace said in a statement. “We will never go back to the days when the landlord lobby got big rent hikes regardless of what the data said.”

Housing advocates and landlords expected the board would approve an increase given its preliminary vote in April, recommending to raise rents for one-year leases between 1 percent to 3 percent, and 2 percent to 4 percent on two-year leases.

Still, housing advocates had called for a rent rollback, or at least another freeze on the city’s roughly 1 million rent stabilized units. During Tuesday’s public meeting at Baruch College, many chanted, “How low can you go?”

Many claimed that landlords are making a profit because of previous rent hikes, including an 8.5 percent increase approved during the height of the recession in 2009.

Source: 1.25 Percent Hike on Rent Stabilized Apartments Approved by Board – Gramercy – DNAinfo New York