Mayor de Blasio to hold first town hall on NYC rent issues

NEW YORK -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will hold the first full-fledged town hall of his term.

A mayoral spokesman says Tuesday that attendees were largely invited by local community groups. About 250 people are expected to attend.

The Democrat who took office last January will appear in the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights Wednesday evening.

Officials say the hour-long town hall will include discussion of tenant issues and the recent rent-freeze for rent-stabilized apartments.

The area around Washington Heights and Inwood has 53,500 rent-stabilized apartments, the