NEW YORK, NY June 22, 2009 —City Councilman Bill de Blasio is calling on the Rent Guidelines Board to vote for a rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants this year, something the board has never done. De Blasio says the city is not doing enough to help lower and middle income New Yorkers through the recession, and he says a rent increase is the last thing they need.

DE BLASIO: The federal government is doing all the things that we learned way back in the New Deal with Franklin Roosevelt you have to do in a time of this extraordinary crisis. The city government doesn't seem to be lifting a finger.

In a preliminary vote last month, the Rent Guidelines Board suggested rent increases of up to 7.5% for two-year leases. The final vote is planned for tomorrow night, at Cooper Union.