If TPTB wanted affordable housing, they'd get out of the way, ditch rent control, let developers build more of it, and subsidize rental for the poor.

There's one showstopper problem with a more free-market approach--the overriding purpose of rent control is to subsidize rich parasites like Charlie Rangel. It would be a lot harder for such people to have their housing paid for by others if subsidies were explicit and means-tested. Sure, poor people wouldn't come out worse, but they're not the ones making the rules.