“ Freeze the rent ” became the definitive rallying cry of Zohran Mamdani ’s affordability-focused mayoral campaign for New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Despite skepticism that he could actually pull it off, a board he controls made good on his pledge on Thursday, just six months into his term. The city’s Rent Guidelines Board, in a 7-1 vote, approved a rent freeze covering both one-year and two-year leases for people living in about 1 million rent-stabilized