“It shows how flawed the system is in its entirety and how inefficient everything is here,” New York landlord Jose Tur told Fox News Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tur, whose late grandfather spent decades building the family’s New York real estate business after emigrating from Cuba<\/a>, said the debate over landlord profits overlooks the hardships facing many small property owners.<\/p>\n NYC RENT BOARD DISSENTER WARNS MAMDANI-BACKED FREEZE COULD HURT AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVER TIME: ‘SLOW BURN’<\/a><\/p>\n Left, members of the Democratic Socialists of America gather outside a Trump-owned building during a May Day rally in New York City in 2019. Right, Gustavo Gordillo sits in studio on “The Story With Martha MacCallum.” (Spencer Platt\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n He recalled how his grandfather, who purchased his first apartment building in 1979, spent decades growing the family business before he was reportedly mugged at gunpoint by a tenant who had not paid rent in five years. Tur said his grandfather suffered a stroke and died two weeks later at age 99.<\/p>\n Fellow New York landlord Natalia Bonanno also relayed her family’s struggle amid what she characterized as growing attacks from the far left: mounting operating costs that have made it increasingly difficult to keep rent-stabilized buildings financially viable.<\/p>\n She told “America’s Newsroom” that her father came to the U.S. as an immigrant with a dream. He became the first in his family to earn a college degree and later became an engineer before deciding he wanted to own property.<\/p>\n “He started to invest also in the ’70s and buying properties in Brooklyn and then passed them down to my sister and I,” Bonanno recalled.<\/p>\n Today, Bonanno said that dream<\/a> is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. She disputed claims that landlords are routinely earning double-digit returns, arguing such figures ignore the rising costs of mortgages, insurance, taxes and<\/a> the expense of maintaining aging rent-stabilized buildings, many of which were constructed in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n STEVE FORBES: MAMDANI\u2019S SOCIALIST RENT-CONTROL PUTS NEW YORK ON THE ROAD TO HOUSING RUIN<\/a><\/p>\n Brownstone apartments in Manhattan, New York City, on July 6, 2024. (Beata Zawrzel\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n “I don’t know where they’re getting 12% from,” Bonanno said, responding to remarks made Friday by New York City Democratic Socialists of<\/a> America co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo.<\/p>\n “I know a lot of people refer to the NOI figure that came out recently, and that doesn’t take into account our mortgage and insurance,” she added.<\/p>\n Gordillo, speaking to “The Story” host Martha MacCallum last week, argued that landlords should not expect double-digit investment returns<\/a> and dismissed claims that rent freezes<\/a> would drive property owners out of business.<\/p>\n Tur also disputed Gordillo’s comments, arguing they were not made in reference to rent-stabilized properties, which he and Bonanno both own.<\/p>\n When asked whether they planned to remain in the business, Tur said he hopes to continue the work his grandfather spent decades building, describing it as a responsibility to both his family and the tenants he has known for years.<\/p>\n “I think it’s the right thing to do on behalf of my family and what my grandfather built and also on behalf of the tenants,” Tur said.<\/p>\n![\"DSA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/dsa-sign-gustavo-split.jpg\")
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