{"id":161904,"date":"2026-03-12T23:16:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161904\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T23:16:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:16:40","slug":"inside-nycs-rental-ripoff-hearings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/161904\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside NYC\u2019s \u2018Rental Ripoff\u2019 Hearings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Bronx is tired of these landlords\u2019 shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the reaction of Linda Coleson, 23, to the hundreds of people who showed up to Fordham University on Wednesday evening for one of Zohran Mamdani\u2019s Rental Ripoff hearings.<\/p>\n

The Big Apple\u2019s democratic socialist mayor campaigned as a leader who would fight for the little guy and take on the Goliaths of capitalism. The hearings, according to the city<\/a>, promised to \u201coffer New Yorkers a microphone to share poor conditions and unconscionable business practices.\u201d This was Mamdani\u2019s chance to shine.<\/p>\n

When I arrived at Fordham\u2019s brightly lit student center, the scene looked less like a struggle session and more like a science fair. A sign declaring the righteous struggle of \u201cNew Yorkers vs. Bad Landlords\u201d adorned a projector screen above a stage. There were booths with tenant unions offering know-your-rights workshops and nonprofits providing free legal aid for renters. Coloring books, puzzles, and stuffed animals were set out for children (though I saw only one child at the event).<\/p>\n

I strolled past large foam boards with Post-it notes for attendees to write their gripes about bad landlords, hidden fees, and obstacles to tenant organizing\u2014a kind of secular Western Wall, with prayers addressed to the almighty Mayor\u2019s Office to Protect Tenants.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking with tenants is hard for introverts,\u201d one Post-it read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Bronx is tired of these landlords\u2019 shit.\u201d That was the reaction of Linda Coleson, 23, to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-161904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}