The Bronx event marked the first hearing Mamdani has personally attended since launching the series.
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Tenants sit with city officials to discuss their landlords in their three-minute slot. Photo by Carol Chen.\n<\/p>\n
But as soon as the mayor took the stage, he was met with heckling from some attendees who said the hearings exclude residents of public housing and focus primarily on private rentals \u2014 a criticism the initiative has faced<\/a> since it began.<\/p>\n \u201cNYCHA residents have been dismissed and have been neglected,\u201d Mamdani said.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI know that not only have NYCHA residents faced chronic disinvestment, they have also come to expect little from a city government that has constantly turned a blind eye to disrepair.\u201d<\/p>\n The hearings are intended to strengthen housing and building code enforcement in private rental housing. While NYCHA residents are welcome to testify, complaints involving public housing follow a different enforcement process than those involving private landlords.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to say this directly, and I want to say this clearly. If you are a NYCHA resident, we want and welcome your stories at the Rental Ripoff hearing,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Among the tenants who spoke was Patricia Jewett, who has lived in the same rent-stabilized apartment for 50 years and now faces a $300 rent increase tied to renovations she says did little to address persistent problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rent is too damn high,\u201d Jewett said.\n<\/p>\n Her building in Fordham recently underwent upgrades including new boilers, plumbing and an intercom system. But according to Jewett, residents still deal with inconsistent heat, unreliable hot water and outdated appliances.<\/p>\n At the hearing, several city agencies along with housing and legal organizations set up tables where residents could collect resources and speak with staff about their concerns. Volunteers encouraged residents to answer prompts about their landlords on interactive poster boards.<\/p>\n Jose Perez, who lives in Washington Heights, said he paid more than $12,000 out of pocket for repairs after a fire broke out in a neighboring apartment and his landlord delayed fixing the damage. Though his landlord later offered rent credit, Perez said he was never reimbursed for the repairs or for medical expenses incurred after the incident.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t make a big thing about it because I just needed to get it fixed,\u201d Perez said. \u201cBut now I\u2019m trying to make it a big deal, because after that experience, it\u2019s like, I shouldn\u2019t really be doing these things on my own.<\/p>\n He said he couldn\u2019t wait for the Manhattan hearing in two weeks<\/a>, and instead made the trek to the Bronx.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI deadass just came to the one in the Bronx to get information. I have no idea how to go about it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Wakefield resident Sabrina Powell arrived carrying a folder filled with legal documents documenting her own housing dispute.\n<\/p>\n Under a preferential rent agreement, she had been paying $500 a month for her apartment. But on her lease renewal, her landlord raised the rent to $1,580 \u2014 far exceeding the incremental increases set by the New York City Rent Guidelines Board.<\/p>\n Since then, Powell says she has become a self-taught legal expert, fighting her landlord in housing court since 2023. She recently filed a harassment claim, alleging the landlord filed unnecessary legal actions in an attempt to evict her.<\/p>\n \u201cI became a hood lawyer because of this!\u201d Powell said. Pierina Sanchez, who chairs the housing and buildings committee in the New York City Council, joined housing advocates ahead of the hearing to support tenants preparing to testify.<\/p>\n Darius Gordon, executive director of Met Council on Housing, said Bronx tenants face some of the most predatory practices from landlords in the city.\n<\/p>\n In three months, the Mayor\u2019s Office to Protect Tenants, the Department of Housing Preservation & Development, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Consumer Worker Protection will compile testimony from the hearings into a report proposing policy changes and stronger enforcement measures.<\/p>\n He stated that while the hearing is a step in the right direction, he is hoping the report will produce tangible solutions.\n<\/p>\n \u201cTenants have to organize, regardless if they\u2019re in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island. So we can\u2019t romanticize this administration,\u201d said Gordon in an interview with the Bronx Times.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot make the same mistakes that we\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to do our job and make sure that we\u2019re holding those in power accountable to the things that they promised.\u201d<\/p>\n Reach Marina Samuel at\u00a0msamuel@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram!<\/a><\/p>\n \t![\"Rev.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773326194_504_IMG_1871.jpg\")
Rev. Kevin McCall, who organized a counter rally outside the hearing for NYCHA residents. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773326194_941_IMG_1884.jpg\")
Tenants anonymously detail the basic services that their building lacks in an interactive poster board. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n
\n![\"Sabrina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773326194_556_IMG_1864.jpg\")
Sabrina Powell and her folder of legal documents, detailing her longstanding disputes with her landlord. Photo by Marina Samuel\n<\/p>\n