While most of New York City was shaking off the holiday break, its new mayor was grinding. In just over a week, Zohran Mamdani has moved aggressively on housing, putting his priorities on display almost immediately.
One of his first items of business was the Pinnacle Group bankruptcy, a case that determined the fate of more than 5,000 mostly rent-stabilized apartments. Mamdani jumped in quickly, vowing to intervene for tenants and asking a federal judge to pause the auction so the city could review the proposed buyer and explore alternatives. The judge said no, clearing the way for Summit Properties’ acquisition after its initial $451 million stalking-horse bid (the final auction price was not immediately clear) and offering an early reminder of where mayoral authority ends when private deals land in bankruptcy court.
Even so, the city’s filings landed with force. In objecting to the Summit deal, administration lawyers warned that low regulated rents combined with a high purchase price could leave the buildings financially unsustainable.
Landlord groups pounced, calling it a rare admission that stabilized rents don’t pencil, an awkward position for an administration that is also pushing for a four-year rent freeze. City Hall quickly pushed back, arguing the concern is specific to the sale price and Summit’s plan, not rent regulation across the board.
Beyond the courtroom, Mamdani has moved just as aggressively. One of his first actions was to relaunch the long-dormant Office to Protect Tenants and appoint Cea Weaver, a veteran tenant organizer and longtime industry antagonist, to lead it. Weaver was a key force behind the 2019 rent laws and has spent years pressing for freezes, expanded regulation and tougher enforcement. Her appointment, paired with the rollout of borough-by-borough “rental ripoff” hearings, sent a clear signal about whose voices this administration plans to amplify.
Those hearings, slated for the mayor’s first 100 days, are meant to surface tenant complaints about conditions and landlord practices and culminate in a citywide report with policy recommendations. Industry groups have dismissed them as performative, while City Hall insists they will directly inform enforcement and reform. Either way, they fit into Mamdani’s broader effort to build a public record around “bad landlords,” a phrase he has leaned on repeatedly since taking office.
But it hasn’t been all tenant-focused actions. He also signed executive orders creating new task forces aimed at speeding up housing production and identifying city-owned sites for development, building on initiatives launched under Eric Adams. And he tapped Dina Levy, a veteran of the state housing agency, to run HPD, an agency with a $2 billion budget and a central role in delivering on his promise to build 200,000 affordable units over the next decade.
Looming over all of it is Mamdani’s pledge to tackle the city’s property tax system, a long-stalled issue he has framed as both an affordability fix for homeowners and a way to ease pressure on rent-stabilized buildings. Any real overhaul would require state buy-in, but the commitment alone has put another sensitive issue back on the table early.
All of this is unfolding as Albany’s legislative session kicks off. Gov. Kathy Hochul is heading into a tough reelection year, and the City Council is weighing whether to revive policies Adams vetoed on his way out the door. Few in the industry expect major changes to tax incentives like 485x or to the rent laws in an election year, but Mamdani’s victory has already shifted the tone of the debate.
That may be the biggest takeaway from week one. Even when the administration does not get the result it wants, like with Pinnacle, it’s forcing housing questions into the open quickly and on its own terms.
There was plenty of other news this week. The Compass-Anywhere merger closed, Google’s co-founders descended on Miami and a showdown over a UCC sale tied to Worldwide Plaza heats up.
Compass-Anywhere merger has closed — here’s what to know
The mega-merger between Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, the country’s two largest brokerages by deal volume, has closed. Compass announced in September it would pay $1.6 billion in stock to acquire Anywhere and acquire its $2.6 billion in debt, valuing the deal at roughly $4.2 billion. The merger creates a combined firm of roughly 340,000 agents that is likely to be a dominant player in the majority of the country’s major residential markets.
Holliday, Rechler, Barnett square off in Worldwide Plaza foreclosure brawl: “Sham auction”
Three of New York’s biggest real estate players are locked in a legal fight over a UCC sale tied to Worldwide Plaza. Owners SL Green and RXR are asking a New York judge to stop what they call a “sham auction” by an entity tied to Gary Barnett’s Extell Development that aims to wrest control of the debt on the 1.8-million-square-foot office tower at 825 Eighth Avenue.
Billionaire Google co-founders descend on Miami
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are making moves in Miami’s luxury housing market, with Page emerging as the buyer behind more than $170 million in recent Coconut Grove deals. Larry Page purchased the 4.5-acre waterfront Banyan Ridge estate, once listed for $135 million, for $101.5 million, and Sergey Brin is said to be hunting for a waterfront home in Miami Beach.
Alexander brothers accused of harassment campaign ahead of sex trafficking trial
A woman in the federal sex trafficking case against the Alexander brothers is accusing them of a harassment campaign before the case heads to trial. Identified in the indictment as Victim 1, the woman alleged in a court filing this week that disgraced brokers Tal and Oren, along with their brother Alon Alexander, used third parties to harass and retaliate against her for participating in the case.
“It’s a disaster”: First Live Local Act proposal in Surfside riles up small coastal town
A proposal for Surfside’s first Live Local Act project with an 11-story building in an area capped at four floors has riled the coastal municipality. “I think it’s a disaster,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said of the Live Local Act, a law developers across South Florida have pounced on with a flurry of projects.
One year later: Here’s what’s happening with Palisades, Eaton fires rebuild
One year ago, the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed a combined 16,000 single-family and commercial structures. But some of those lots are primed for rebuilding. Now, green shoots are turning into a broader comeback, as real estate surveys the progress — what’s sold and what’s being built — and property owners make their own decisions to move forward on new homes, or move away. So far, the permitting pipeline is in sync with that activity, and developers are keeping up, although some wonder what 2026 holds, as the pace picks up.
SL Green starts $2.5B selloff with 100 Park deal
SL Green has kicked off its planned $2.5 billion asset selloff by unloading a minority stake in 100 Park Avenue to Rockpoint at a $425 million valuation. The REIT had only just bought a 49 percent stake in the 900,000-square-foot tower from Prudential in December at a $360 million valuation, then added fresh equity before flipping the interest to Rockpoint ahead of the new year.
Related’s Nick Pérez on the state of South Florida’s condo market
Nick Pérez has a clear view of South Florida’s condo market, especially the ultra-high-end segment. Pérez is president of the condo division at Related, where he and his brother, CEO Jon Paul Pérez, have been taking on more leadership, though the Miami-based firm is still led by Nick’s father, billionaire developer Jorge Pérez. Related is pushing ahead with projects from Miami to West Palm Beach to Tampa, and holding onto a handful of sites with big plans.