Markets 
Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched a taxpayer-funded initiative that critics bashed as a thinly veiled political lobbying campaign to push a rent freeze on the city’s 2 million rent-controlled apartments.
The avowed democratic socialist, surrounded by freeze-the-rent advocates, rolled out a program dubbed Organize NYC that would initially be tasked with spreading the word about upcoming hearings held by the independent Rent Guidelines Board, which will determine in June if rents will increase for rent-stabilized units.
While Mamdani claimed the long-term initiative run by his Office of Mass Engagement won’t push his political agenda and will seek input from tenants and landlords alike, real estate advocates argued he was deploying a “pressure campaign” to deliver on his well-known freeze-the-rent campaign promise.
The board — not the mayor — will decide on if there will be rent increases on the stabilized units, though the RGB is packed with Mamdani appointments.
“This is a clear example of misuse of taxpayer money for stated political purposes, which is irresponsible at a time when the mayor is trying to figure out how to fund libraries on a Sunday,” New York Apartment Association (NYAA) CEO Kenny Burgos told The Post.
Hizzoner said during a Wednesday morning press conference that Organize NYC’s first mission will have volunteers canvass across the Big Apple to encourage testimony at RGB hearings this spring.
The group of door knockers won’t advocate for a certain outcome in the RGB’s June vote, and is only attempting to bring in more participation at the hearings, City Hall contended. Volunteers will have a script to read to residents that asks if they are in a rent-stabilized unit and whether they plan on speaking up.
“If we want New Yorkers to believe in these processes, we must make it as easy as possible for them to be a part of these processes,” said Mamdani, who later pumped out another slick social media video about the new endeavor. “And that is why we need to get the word out to as many New Yorkers as we can.”
Mamdani didn’t invite any representatives on behalf of property owners to the announcement as he stood by controversial Office for Protect Tenants Director Cea Weaver and longtime Democratic Socialists of America member Tascha Van Auken, who runs the Office of Mass Engagement.
Pro-renter group Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) was also on hand for the rollout. A tenant organizer with CASA even wrote an op-ed last month calling for a rent freeze.
“We are not advocating for any specific outcome or position,” Van Auken insisted Wednesday – a claim some insiders weren’t buying.
A real estate source called Mamdani’s latest maneuver “disingenuous.”
“You are standing with Cea Weaver, one of the most notable tenants’ rights activists who has called for rent freezes for years, but yeah, we aren’t advocating for anything,” the source scoffed.
Burgos, of the NYAA, accused the Mamdani administration of putting “a pressure campaign on his own rent guidelines board to deliver his campaign promise of a rent freeze.”
“And so if he wants to engage, we’re always more than happy to,” he said in reference to landlords. “But I’m not quite sure what he’s hoping to gain in light of these efforts.”
The mayor’s office said officials have reached out to numerous landlords organization, including NYAA, Community Preservation Corp., New York Housing Conference, Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development.
Prominent civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel told The Post if the campaign only results in one side coming out, it “would be an erosion of our democratic process that requires all voices be heard.”
“If that happens that would not be proper, but not unethical or illegal,” he stressed.
Mamdani made a rent-freeze for rent-stabilized apartments a major plank of his mayoral campaign, helping propel him past a number of more established politicians, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
But landlords have argued they need to raise rents in order to keep up with rising costs and to ensure they can properly maintain their buildings. Critics have argued a rent freeze could force owners to hike market rate units even higher.
“Greater participation in public hearings is laudable, but let’s not forget that the Rent Guidelines Board has a statutory obligation to act in accordance with the full scope of data on rising costs and financial distress reflected in many older, heavily rent-stabilized buildings across the city,” said REBNY President James Whelan in a statement.
While canvassers won’t be paid, the effort is being put together by the Mass Engagement Office, which is filled with cushy, six-figure salaries gig that totals nearly $2 million in taxpayer cash, The Post previously revealed.
But City Hall was mum on the actual cost of Organize NYC, only saying it would come out of the office’s budget.
The mayor’s office also told The Post canvassers must check a box agreeing to not push an agenda – but it’s not legally binding.
The five-page script and talking points that canvassers will read from is also mainly focused on renters – with only two short sentences dedicated to speaking with landlords.
“As the Mayor made clear this morning, individuals who participate must agree to not provide instruction, encouragement, or suggestion regarding the content of anyone’s testimony – and if they violate this agreement, they will be asked to stop participating,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement.
But a Democratic operative called the effort a “blatant attempt to use city dollars for politics.”
“Remind him that landlords are NYC constituents, too,” the person said.
Another Dem insider labeled it “political organizing.”
“If it walks like a political campaign, rallies like a political campaign, quacks like a political campaign, then it’s politics on the government time,” the operative said.
The Mamdani administration noted only 400 people testified at last year’s hearing before the RGB made its decision.
Canvassing with begin in early May in parts of the Bronx, Queens, lower and upper Manhattan and Brooklyn – but not on Staten Island.
Read the full article here
