New York small landlords say they can't survive Mamdani's rent freeze

NEW YORK, Nov 12 — Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rent freeze is pushing some of New York City's small landlords to the brink, according to a Washington Post report that interviewed owners of ageing rent-stabilized buildings. The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The maths no longer works

Valentina Gojcaj, a small landlord who owns two rent-stabilized apartment buildings in the Bronx, told the Post she worries she will no longer be able to afford to keep her buildings afloat under Mamdani's policies. "Why is he targeting us?" she asked. "This is my investment and something I expect to retire on. What happens to me when I can no longer afford to run these buildings?"

Retired transit worker Irving Lee inherited an eight-unit rent-stabilized building in Manhattan's Chinatown from his father, a Chinese immigrant who worked as a bookkeeper and laundryman and bought the building in the 1980s, when former Mayor Ed Koch was encouraging immigrants to invest in troubled properties to fight blight. Lee now wonders how much longer he can hold on to the family investment, given monthly rents of $700 to $1,500 for units that on average take $1,300 apiece to maintain. "There are forces in this city that make it extremely difficult for property owners to care for and renovate these buildings," he told the Post.

The freeze is in effect; the fight is in court

The Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 on June 26 to halt increases on one- and two-year leases for about one million rent-stabilized apartments, and the freeze took effect on October 1, delivering on Mamdani's signature campaign promise. Five small landlords sued in July to void the decision, alleging the board manipulated its data and was packed with loyalists; a judge has ordered City Hall to hand over its communications with the board. Data cited by the board showed landlord expenses up 5.3% and owner income up 6.2% in 2026.

Stabilized homes are about 40% of city rentals

City data shows rent-stabilized units make up around 40% of all rentals in the city, costing an average of $1,600 a month. Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property Owners of New York, told the Post the city has approximately 22,000 buildings of six to 10 units, thousands of them owned by New Yorkers like Lee. She said a 2019 state law limiting how much owners could raise rents after a unit was vacated and renovated decimated landlords' ability to recoup the costs of major improvements, leaving many units vacant; the New York Apartment Association estimates the city has 50,000 rent-stabilized "ghost apartments".

Mamdani won last year's election on a cost-of-living message, and the rent freeze was his key promise to lower-income renters, who broadly support it. Landlords argue that a prolonged freeze will erode owners' incentive to maintain ageing buildings — ultimately hurting the tenants' living conditions.

(Sources: Washington Post (via Fox News); Commercial Observer; CRE Daily. Photo: file image.)