Mayor Zohran Mamdani Addresses Real Estate Issues on Reddit

From real estate’s perspective, there’s a Good Zohran and a Bad Zohran.

Bad Zohran tries to devalue properties to freeze rents, which the 2019 rent law already did. Bad Zohran holds “rental ripoff” hearings. Bad Zohran plans to stall sales of distressed buildings to give the “community” a chance to buy them. Bad Zohran!

Good Zohran changed his mind about private developers, realizing he cannot solve the housing shortage without them. Good Zohran voted for pro-housing City Charter revisions. Good Zohran wants to upzone wealthy enclaves.

The good version of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with Deputy Mayor for Housing Leila Bozorg and tenant protection czar Cea Weaver, showed up for a Reddit Q&A April 6. Reddit users pushed smart questions from pro-housing commentators toward the top of the thread.

Mamdani and Bozorg’s answers were free of the rhetoric, urban myths and utter nonsense often spewed by people who don’t know any better or have a vested interest in the status quo.

I don’t want to give them too much credit for not pandering to hysterical or misguided NIMBYs, but that is always a possibility in politics.

Housing development

YIMBYs appreciated this question from Reddit user deathprofessor:

“A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that every US city which grew its housing stock by 10 percent over six years saw a decrease in rents. … Is the Mamdani administration aligned on building that many homes?”

Mamdani replied, “The evidence is absolutely clear — we need to build much more housing to address the housing crisis. And to be clear, our 200,000-unit goal is specific to city-supported affordable housing. It is not the total amount of housing we want, or expect, to be built in our city across the next 10 years.

“We’re working on a variety of programs to build more housing in New York: direct subsidies, new financing mechanisms, land use changes, and much more.”

MyStackRunnethOver (gotta love these names!) commented that “the only feasible solution that anyone has articulated is ‘make it much easier to build market-rate housing.’”

Indeed it is. And it wouldn’t cost the city a dime. In fact, it would cause the city’s stack to (ahem) runneth over by bringing in people who make and spend large amounts of money. That’s where jobs and tax revenue come from.

Mamdani will never say, “We love the rich people” (as Mike Bloomberg did in 2009), and believes billionaires shouldn’t exist, but would surely love to have more earners in the top four tax brackets. He knows the only way to get them without driving up others’ rents is to build market-rate homes.

Excessive regulation

Reddit commenter “ahenneberger” cited construction costs, a Citizens Budget Commission report and the mandate for oversized elevators, and asked, “Has the administration started the process of trying to align our building codes with peer global cities?”

Bozorg replied, “We’re definitely taking a hard look at the costs of constructing and maintaining housing. As you and the CBC report have mentioned, these costs come from a huge variety of different regulations, so there isn’t one single fix that could solve everything — but those costs add up, for sure.

“We’re working with our partners in the City Council to look at these regulations and where they can be simplified without compromising safety.”

Here, my optimism is limited. Some of these rules are political favors for unions — unions that support City Council members and the mayor. Who will let developers use alternatives to metal pipes and conduits? No mayor has.

“Something that would help,” Reddit user ahenneberger offered, “is a public facing tracker for what regulations are being investigated and when reports are due.” Bloomberg had those for PlaNYC — not just for transparency, but to hold his commissioners accountable.

Rezoning

Another reader, samdman, mentioned successful rezonings in Midtown South, Jamaica, Long Island City and along Atlantic Avenue.

“However,” he added, “there are still plenty of neighborhoods with extremely high rents, good transit, and limited housing development that could benefit from upzonings, including: Upper West Side, Astoria, Williamsburg/Bushwick (non waterfront but along the L train), Greenwich Village (particularly along the avenues where there is lots of single-story retail), Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope.”

Bozorg replied, “Stay tuned!” That’s encouraging. Yes, she ducked the question, but she can’t discuss unreleased plans, lest opponents get a head start on defeating them.

Taller buildings, with ground-level retail and apartments above, certainly make sense for the commercial strips of historic neighborhoods where landmark protections and zoning have largely frozen development.

But opposition is guaranteed. Rezonings pitting Mamdani and YIMBYs against the monied residents of Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and the Upper West Side would be epic battles — and much fun for this columnist.

Sidewalk sheds, property taxes, NYCHA

Later on the Reddit thread, Williamsburg commenter chenan asked about Local Law 11, which has choked the city in sidewalk sheds and cost building owners, retailers and residential tenants billions of dollars.

“Are there plans to make the regulations more reasonable?” chenan asked. “This feels like [a] prime example of regulatory capture — expensive and frequent inspections that are lining pockets of scaffolders and facade inspectors.”

Mamdani answered, “Not a fan of sheds myself. When you’re walking outside in New York City, you deserve to see the sky.”

The mayor said new rules unveiled last month will take down unnecessary sidewalk sheds, limit the distance scaffolding can extend from a building and extend the time between hands-on facade inspections to 12 years for buildings up to 40 years old. Reform efforts continue, he said.

Mamdani also called the property tax system “fundamentally broken and deeply inequitable,” saying “it has shifted the burden onto working families and tenants while protecting entrenched interests.” He promised to propose a “comprehensive package of reforms,” but didn’t say when.

Bozorg also reiterated and explained the administration’s support for the Related Companies/Essence Development project to rebuild NYCHA’s Fulton and Elliot-Chelsea campuses.

Samdman, a Chelsea resident, replied, “It has been very frustrating to see rich NIMBYs’ astroturf opposition to the project, filing frivolous lawsuits to prevent NYCHA tenants from getting brand new, high-quality housing to replace their crumbling 80-year old tower blocks.”

Rent stabilization, housing court

Will Mamdani try to seize distressed rent-stabilized buildings? Bozorg said programs that allow the city to move them to “more responsible ownership” have “existed for years, and we plan to use them only when necessary to provide tenants with safe and healthy homes.”

The horror of housing court — a creature of the state — came up, too. “Can we do anything to separate the non-paying renters who truly need help from the non-paying renters who are gaming the system?” asked ThatsMarvelous.

Cea Weaver, head of the mayor’s tenant protection unit and a despised figure in the real estate industry, replied that she had visited housing court that very morning.

“It clearly isn’t working for anybody — many cases are immediately adjourned for months because the first time most people get an attorney is when they show up in court or because it takes weeks and weeks to verify if conditions in apartments exist,” she wrote. “We’re looking at a lot of potential solutions: easier access to counsel earlier to prevent unnecessary adjournments, helping providers reach people earlier, speeding up our social service programs, etc.”

Weaver didn’t acknowledge that housing court works well for deadbeat tenants who want to live rent-free for years and get paid to vacate, but at least she didn’t accuse landlords of abusing it.