The Kingston Common Council overrode the mayoral veto of a rent control resolution, in a largely expected move.
A two-thirds majority would’ve been sufficient to override the veto; the vote was unanimous, the Times Union reported.
“Upholding rent stabilization is not just a sound policy choice; it is our responsibility as local lawmakers to ensure that families can remain in their homes,” majority leader Michelle Hirsch said after the vote on Tuesday, which drew a standing ovation from onlookers.
Mayor Steve Noble was present for the council meeting, though he did not appear during a public comment period.
The city’s rent stabilization controversy was driven by a vacancy study that found rates in buildings covered by the Emergency Tenant Protection Act at 7.04 percent this spring, above a 5 percent limit required to declare a “housing emergency” and keep rent caps in place. But the Council argued for a 4.55 percent citywide vacancy rate.
Noble said the Common Council’s resolution, which cites the 4.55 percent vacancy rate determined by an independent consultant hired by the city’s Office of Housing Initiatives, “misconstrues aspects of the 2025 vacancy study and contains several factual errors.” Notably, the city’s report did not calculate a city-wide vacancy rate and the consultant only analyzed nine properties for its study.
The rent stabilization road in Kingston, which became the first upstate municipality to adopt the tenant protection measure in New York, has been controversial.
Last August, the state’s Court of Appeals rejected a challenge from the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association, which argued the city’s 2022 vacancy study was flawed and that its Rent Guidelines Board overreached by ordering a 15 percent rent rollback in stabilized buildings, allowing the reduction to stand and opening the door for tenants to seek refunds.
Kingston’s ETPA initially covered 64 buildings and 1,200 apartments, though exemptions and rehab projects cut that total to fewer than 1,000 units, under 20 percent of the city’s rentals.
Council members can adjust which buildings qualify — for instance, covering only those with 22-plus units, a measure Noble supports — but can’t expand eligibility beyond ETPA’s pre-1974, six-unit minimum.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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