Mayor Mamdani Zohran on Wednesday announced he’s organizing volunteer outreach to tenants living in and owners of rent-stabilized buildings, seeking more New Yorkers to testify at upcoming Rent Guidelines Board hearings.
Although the mayor campaigned on freezing the rent for New Yorkers living in those apartments, he promised the program would be informational and not political.
What You Need To Know
Last year, only 400 New Yorkers gave public testimony for a decision impacting more than 2 million New Yorkers
The mayor said he wants more tenant and landlord testimony presented before the Rent Guidelines Board makes a final decision in late June: on whether they will raise or freeze the rent for stabilized tenants
Landlords and their advocates argue: owners don’t have the funds to maintain apartments, given rising insurance costs plus limits in state and city law
Last year, only 400 New Yorkers gave public testimony for a decision affecting over 2 million New Yorkers.
That’s why this year, the mayor said he wants more tenant and landlord testimony presented before the Rent Guidelines Board makes a final decision in late June on whether they will raise or freeze the rent for stabilized tenants.
“For us to be complacent and accepting of a process where 0.02% of those impacted are testifying is, to me, a failure of civic engagement,” Mamdani said during a press conference in the South Bronx on Tuesday.
Now, he’s tasking his newly created Office of Mass Engagement with running a volunteer operation charged with informing tenants and landlords about public hearings next month.
“Part of this comes from informing tenants of their own rights, but also this is outreach that will not be limited to tenants; it will also extend to landlords,” Mamdani added.
The mayor is trying to model a government version of the powerful volunteer operation that led to his election.
“One hundred and four thousand people knocked on more than 3 million doors,” he said.
Rent-stabilized housing has become a political football: tenants generally oppose rent increases, arguing that living in the city has become unaffordable and landlords don’t make necessary repairs.
“None of the data in his Rent Guidelines Board points to a rent freeze. Nothing supports it when you have insurance going up, property taxes going up, labor’s going up — all costs are going up on top of inflation,” said Kenny Burgos, the CEO of the New York Apartment Association, representing owners and building managers.
Landlords and their advocates argue: owners don’t have the funds to maintain apartments, given rising insurance costs plus limits in state and city law.
“When rent-regulated owners have no decision power over what the revenue is, when they have no decision power over what the imputed costs are,” Burgos told NY1. “The only lever they can pull is a reduction in repairs and maintenance that these buildings desperately need, given the fact that they’re well over 70 years, over 100 years old in many cases.”
City Hall said it will train volunteers before shifts and provide a script to follow.
The city did not say how much city money will be spent on the effort, nor how much the total budget for the office is.
“All of our materials will be very clear that we are going to folks’ doors to make sure they know how to participate. We are not telling people how or what to say,” said Tascha Van Auken, the commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement.
Although he ran on freezing the rent, has appointments to the independent board and launched largely tenant-focused rental rip-off hearings, Mamdani said he doesn’t want his ideas or volunteers’ politics to influence anyone’s testimony.
“The critical questions here are: Are you rent stabilized, Will you testify? We made it very clear that there’s no tolerance for the encouragement of any specific testimony,” he said.
He declined to answer a question about whether he consulted the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, but said his corporation counsel signed off.
“We’re focused on civic engagement and people participating,” said Steven Banks, of the New York City Corporation Counsel.
Past mayors have gotten into trouble when allegedly blurring lines between government and campaign work, like former Mayor Bill de Blasio. His Campaign for One New York nonprofit was probed by federal investigators for its fundraising practices and relationship with City Hall, but the mayor and his campaign were cleared of wrongdoing.
“Getting more New Yorkers to engage with their government is good for democracy. Done right, this office could be a model. But there’s an important line between civic engagement and political organizing, and a city-funded office must stay on the right side of it, said Grace Rauh, the executive director of the good-government group Citizens Union.
“It’s important that the mayor’s office demonstrates that they are putting the proper guardrails in place. What we heard from the Mayor today in response to questions from reporters is a good start,” she added.
The first hearing starts June 4 and will be held in every borough, except Staten Island. The board makes a final decision on June 25.