The Rent Guidelines Board’s leadership repeatedly communicated with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office in the months leading up to June's vote to freeze rents on the city's stabilized apartments, according to texts and emails filed as evidence in court on Thursday.

The communications include a draft of the RGB’s explanatory statement, sent by RGB Chair Chantella Mitchell to Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor for Housing Arvind Sindhwani, on June 16, more than a week before the official vote.

The initial batch of produced communications was filed in court on the same day that rents were frozen on more than 1 million New York City apartments. Landlords have contested the unprecedented 0% increase on one- and two-year leases, claiming that the independent board’s process was illegally influenced by the mayor. 

A four-year rent freeze was a central campaign promise by Mamdani.

Though the mayor appoints board members, the nine-person body is supposed to base its decision solely on the data and testimony provided by researchers, advocates, landlords and tenants. The information is presented in public hearings over several months leading up to the vote. 

Last week, Richmond County Supreme Court Judge Brendan Lantry ordered more than two dozen top city officials and RGB members to turn over their phones and emails for inspection. 

In a letter to the judge, the city’s top attorney, Steven Banks, wrote that there is “absolutely no merit” to the accusations and that the process was conducted with the “utmost honesty, integrity, and independence.”

There were 101 emails between Mitchell and Sindhwani, who Banks said is the “designated point of contact at City Hall for logistical and liaison matters related to the RGB in the current administration.” He pointed out that in 2025, there were 228 emails between then-RGB Chair Doug Apple and then-Mayor Eric Adams' City Hall point of contact.

But the plaintiff’s attorneys, which consist of a team from Rosenberg & Estis and Dechert co-chair Randy Mastro — who served as deputy mayor under Adams — said the search produced nearly 1,000 documents in total, spanning 3,000 pages. 

“What our review of this initial production has revealed, however, is that the contacts between City Hall and the RGB were not only substantial, but also shocking, in that they show coordination and collaboration throughout the RGB’s process,” Mastro wrote in a letter to the judge. 

Text messages indicate that Mitchell and Sindhwani spoke multiple times over the phone between February and April. In addition to scheduling hearing dates, they also discussed key RGB reports.

“Sending my PIOC notes now – please take a look before we chat, if at all possible,” Sindhwani wrote before a call on April 3, referring to the RGB’s Price Index of Operating Costs report. 

The annual report provides information on rising costs for rent-stabilized apartments. Other reports allegedly discussed include the RGB’s Income and Expense Study and the Mayor’s True Cost of Living Report.

This is a developing story.