New York City’s soaring housing costs have become a defining issue for voters in the Big Apple's mayoral election, but politicians and economists are divided on the right long-term solutions to address it.

In theory, a rent freeze may seem like a quick and easy answer to address the affordability crisis. Experts say it could hinder the city's real estate market in the long term by discouraging investment and worsening affordability for non-rent-stabilized units.

During his campaign, Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who is running for mayor on a platform to lower the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers, said more than 2 million residents live in rent-stabilized apartments that "should be the bedrock of economic security." If elected, he pledged to freeze ren

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