Tuesday, Feb. 10, marks the 41st day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did.
New York City renters can now sign up to testify at the city’s first-ever Rental Ripoff Hearings, a series of public forums announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration aimed at gathering tenant experiences with unsafe conditions, hidden fees, and other common rental complaints.
The hearings, established through an executive order signed on Jan. 4, will take place in all five boroughs between late February and early April.
City officials say the testimony collected will inform a report, due within 90 days of the final hearing, outlining potential policy changes and enforcement strategies to protect tenants and hold landlords accountable.
According to the Mayor’s Office, renters will be able to speak publicly or meet one-on-one with senior city officials, including leadership from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Department of Buildings.
Tenant affordability: Mamdani says hearings are about building policy proposals
City officials say the hearings are meant to gather information, not issue penalties, and that tenant testimony will inform policy proposals expected later this year.
“You can’t fight for tenants without listening to them first,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the hearing dates. “What tenants share at these hearings won’t lead to empty promises. Their testimony will guide our work and help shape the policies we advance to build a city New Yorkers can afford to call their home.”
Cea Weaver, director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, said the hearings are intended to give renters a direct opportunity to describe everyday problems such as unsafe conditions and unexplained charges, and to ensure those experiences inform future housing policy.
Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine said the hearings will focus in part on broker fees, hidden charges, and other practices that drive up housing costs, adding that his agency plans to use tenant testimony to guide efforts to make the rental market more transparent and affordable.
Some landlord groups, however, argue the process risks prioritizing public spectacle over substantive reform.
The New York Apartment Association, which represents building owners, characterized the hearings as “show trials” and accused the Mamdani administration of prioritizing political theater over structural solutions to housing challenges.
CEO Kenny Burgos said renters’ concerns should be addressed, but argued that landlords are facing financial pressure from high taxes, rent regulations, and underperforming city agencies.
”This is the kind of all show and no substance governing style many were worried this administration could become and if so it’ll be a disservice to renters and the bankrupt housing they live in,” Burgos said.
Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York, said the framing of the upcoming hearings make it “disturbingly clear” that Mamdani’s housing policies “are going to be driven by marquee-like politics, circus-like slogans, and us-versus-them divisiveness.”
“He must check his biases at the door and devise solutions, not divide New Yorkers into factions. The affordable housing system only works successfully if it works for everyone. His assumption that only tenants have stories to tell is abhorrent,” said Korchak.
Likewise, Humberto Lopes, CEO of HL Dynasty and the Gotham Housing Alliance, fumed that Mamdani had “chosen to stage a kangaroo court to distract from the real truth: the worst landlord in New York City isn’t a private owner—it’s City Hall.”
“The New York City Housing Authority, under the Mayor’s control, is responsible for some of the most unlivable and neglected housing conditions anywhere in the five boroughs, with more violations by far than any private property. While tenants in NYCHA developments endure mold, heat outages, and unsafe buildings, the Mayor’s team diverts attention by targeting small and mid-sized landlords who are often struggling under the city’s crushing regulatory burden,” said Lopes.
Renters interested in taking part can register to attend in person at nyc.gov/RentalRipoff. Those unable to attend can submit testimony by email at RentalRipoff@cityhall.nyc.gov.
Dates and locations
- Brooklyn: Thursday, Feb. 26, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Downtown Brooklyn
- Queens: Thursday, March 5, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Long Island City
- The Bronx: Wednesday, March 11, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Fordham
- Manhattan: Saturday, March 28, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., East Harlem
- Staten Island: Tuesday, April 7, 5:30–8:30 p.m., North Shore
Housing: ‘Let them build’ and cut the red tape
Mayor Mamdani joined Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday morning to press for faster housing construction and draw attention to what he called decades of unnecessary delays caused by outdated environmental review laws that are hindering New York City’s affordability efforts.
At the Major Owen Center in Brooklyn, Mamdani emphasized the human and economic toll of sluggish project approvals, arguing that the city is losing jobs and opportunities because bureaucratic hurdles are slowing the construction of needed housing.
He cited figures highlighted by the state showing that regulatory red tape can add up to $82,000 to the cost of building a single housing unit in New York City and extend review timelines by years, a key point in the governor’s ongoing housing agenda.
“When people can’t afford a place to live, they can’t fully participate in their city,” Mamdani said. “Talented employees turn down jobs here. Businesses suffer. Our civic fabric starts to tear away.”
The event spotlighted the ongoing effort to reform the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which critics say often delays housing and infrastructure projects, even those with minimal environmental impact, through lengthy, costly reviews. The governor’s Let Them Build agenda, first outlined in January, calls for “common‑sense reforms” to SEQRA to reduce delays that hurt housing supply and raise costs.
Hochul stressed in a post‑event Q&A that the reforms would not eliminate environmental protections, but would streamline reviews for projects on previously disturbed land and projects that communities already support. She said the changes are limited in scope to housing and certain infrastructure, like parks, child care facilities, and clean water systems, and do not apply to all development.
Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York, a group advocating for more housing, echoed Mamdani’s criticism, saying environmental rules have too often been used to block projects through lawsuits rather than protect the environment.
“Just because you can afford a lawyer doesn’t mean you should be able to deny your neighbors the housing they need today,” Gray said, pointing to legal challenges in Midtown South and the Seaport that slowed housing projects and even litigation over rooftop solar panels.
“Environmental review should serve the environment, not the wealthy,” she added.
Separately, Gov. Hochul was asked about Mayor Mamdani’s absence from the installation Mass for New York’s new Archbishop, Ronald Hicks, on Friday, which drew criticism from some circles.
Houchl, a Catholic herself, said she did not view his absence as disrespectful and noted that scheduling conflicts happen – including for her. Hochul said she asked Archbishop Hicks for political dispensation after she too skipped the mass.
“I’m not gonna question where people happen to be, what their schedules require. I’m sure there’ll be a healthy relationship with the mayor and the head of the archdiocese,” said Hochul. “There always is.”
Immigration: Mayor demands release of Palestinian activist from ICE custody
Mayor Mamdani also took to social media to call for the release of Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and recently hospitalized after suffering a seizure at a detention facility in Texas.
“Leqaa Kordia has spent nearly a year in an ICE prison for exercising her First Amendment rights in NYC and speaking out against the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” Mamdani said in a statement. “She was hospitalized after suffering a seizure. Now she’s back in detention. This is cruel and unnecessary. Release Leqaa now.”
Kordia, 33, a resident of Paterson, NJ, was arrested in spring 2024 during Columbia University protests. Her case was recently investigated by the NYC Department of Investigation, which found that a 2025 disclosure of her arrest records to federal agents did not violate city sanctuary laws, as the request was made in the context of a criminal investigation. The NYPD has since tightened its review procedures for federal requests.
In March 2025, Kordia was taken into ICE custody at a Newark immigration appointment and transferred to the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas.
According to a press release from Muslim Advocates, Kordia was discharged after more than three days in the hospital, during which her family and attorneys were denied access and informed only indirectly through a journalist. Legal representatives say ICE refused repeated requests for updates, even as court deadlines loomed, and that Kordia remains detained at the Prairieland Detention Center.
“ICE has yet again demonstrated their inhumane cruelty by disconnecting Leqaa from her loved ones and legal representatives during an extremely critical time, all while risking her health and safety,” said Travis Fife of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which represents Kordia along with Muslim Advocates, CLEAR, Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel, and Boston University School of Law’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic.
Her family says she has suffered dizziness, fainting, and poor nutrition while in ICE custody.
Mamdani’s call for Kordia’s release comes amid broader tensions between NYC’s sanctuary policies and federal immigration enforcement. Last week, the mayor signed an order strengthening local protections and limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities unless legally required, which DHS swiftly criticized.
DHS stated that Kordia’s ongoing detention is over immigration violations related to overstaying her expired student visa, and that her admission to the hospital was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure her health and safety.
“The hospital is monitoring her condition and ICE will continue to ensure she receives proper medical care,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “All detainees receive medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained illegal alien denied emergent care. For many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they receive in their entire lives.”
