Tenant Advocates Cheer Mamdani’s Primary Election Win

Tenants are the majority in New York Zohran Mamdani understands that and he gave us something to vote for Cea Weaver director of the New York State Tenant Bloc declared of the candidate and expected Democratic nominee who ran on a campaign to freeze rents for stabilized tenants Zohran Mamdani at a campaign rally at Terminal on June Facebook ZohranKMamdani Zohran Mamdani a Queens assemblymember who ran on a campaign that promised to freeze rents for stabilized tenants and make the city more affordable is the expected Democratic nominee in November s general vote for mayor what housing advocates say is a win for renters Though an official tally of ranked choice primary ballots isn t expected until next week former Gov Andrew Cuomo conceded the race Tuesday night Unofficial early results from the city s Board of Elections shows Mamdani with more than percent of first-round votes and Cuomo with percent Tenants are the majority in New York Zohran Mamdani understands that and he gave us something to vote for commented Cea Weaver director of the New York State Tenant Bloc in a message Tuesday night For months the group has been organizing thousands of canvassers in endorsement of Democratic candidates who advocacy a rent freeze for roughly million tenants in the city s rent-stabilized apartments The Rent Guidelines Board whose members are appointed by the mayor votes each year on allowable rent changes for those units The current board is expected to vote next week and is considering a hike between to percent on two-year leases starting Oct Mamdani pledged to freeze the rent for all four years of his term if elected The RGB froze the rent three times under Mayor Bill de Blasio raising it percent total over eight years its members have raised rent percent in three years under Mayor Eric Adams Cuomo whose mayoral bid has received millions from real estate donors both directly and via indirect backing from Super PACs noted that the board should operate independently and vote based input and the economic conditions both tenants and building owners are facing Landlord and property owner groups agree They say a rent freeze will further hurt buildings already struggling with deferred maintenance and rising operational costs The stakes are particularly high for -percent rent regulated buildings which they say will further deteriorate without more substantial rent increases A premeditated rent freeze is illegal Kenny Burgos head of the New York Apartment Association which represents owners of rent-regulated buildings revealed in a social media post Monday The Mayor appoints members to the RGB just like he appoints members to the Campaign Finance Board and the Conflicts of Interest Board he wrote These boards are created to be independent and should remain so Scenes from Rent Guidelines Board s vote in Photo by Adi Talwar But housing advocates say the RGB has long voted at the behest of the mayor in office numerous of whom have opted to raise rents year after year as tenants wages remain stagnant A majority of renter households across the city are rent-burdened meaning they spend more than a third of their income on housing Tonight s results send a clear message to landlord-backed politicians like Andrew Cuomo your time is over Tenant BLOC s Weaver declared in message Tuesday evening We are done with the status quo We are done with struggling to stay in the city that we keep running while landlord profits skyrocket Mamdani s message appeared to resonate with primary voters a great number of of whom recounted City Limits that housing costs are among their chief priorities for the next mayor It s rough out here for people trying to make a living I think that anything that could stabilize rent would be great declared Kevin Rutledge a park attendant in Manhattan who explained he was voting for Mamdani Beyond his pledged rent freeze Mamdani s housing plan calls for building publicly-subsidized affordable union-built rent-stabilized homes over the next years He says he would expand the number of units produced through existing affordability programs for seniors and extremely low-income households those earning less than a year for a family of four and would fully fund and staff the city s housing agencies He says he would pay for his plan by raising million via municipal bonds and by pooling funds from rental assistance programs like CityFHEPS to finance affordable and supportive housing projects I will fight for a city that works for you that is affordable for you that is safe for you the Queens lawmaker commented in a speech to supporters Tuesday night Cuomo may still run as an independent in the general voting on Nov Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent as is attorney Jim Walden Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa is running as Republican With reporting by Patrick Spauster and Tareq Saghie To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits 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