A coalition of New York City landlords launched a bid Wednesday to smack down Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s rent freeze \u2014 calling it a rigged \u201csham\u201d that relied on \u201cmanipulated data\u201d in a new lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The group sued the city\u2019s Rent Guidelines Board in Staten Island Supreme Court, challenging as \u201cunlawful\u201d the panel\u2019s June 25 decision to freeze rents<\/a> on 1 million stabilized units for two years.<\/p>\n They claim the nine-member board skewed its own data, ignoring a slew of economic conditions to justify a \u201cpredetermined,\u201d \u201cirrational result\u201d and deliver a political victory for Mamdani \u2014 who famously campaigned on a promise to \u201cfreeze the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n A coalition of NYC landlords who own over 100 rent stabilized units say Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s rent freeze was a rigged \u201csham,\u201d according to a new lawsuit challenging the freeze. OLGA FEDOROVA\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n \u201cThe [Rent Guidelines Board]\u2019s June 25 determination was the result of a corrupted and compromised process: a statutory mandate flouted and disregarded, an independent agency held captive, and an outcome wired and predetermined from inception,\u201d the suit claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mamdani, according to the filing, accomplished this by stacking the independent board with loyalist tenant activists \u2014 and spent more than $5 million in taxpayer dollars via his controversial Office of Mass Engagement <\/a>with a \u201cgoal of promoting the freeze outcome, not facilitating neutral civic engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani \u2014 who appointed six of the current RGB members \u2014 has argued the board was independent.<\/p>\n The landlords, who together own over 100 rent-stabilized units, ask a state judge to block the freeze before it can take effect in October.<\/p>\n \u201cIf allowed to stand, Order #58 will impose severe, irreparable harm\u201d on the plaintiffs \u201cand similarly-situated landlords (who stand to lose their properties), while setting a dangerous precedent that the RGB\u2019s independence can be cast aside by Mayoral fiat,\u201d the suit states.<\/p>\n One landlord who is part of the suit, Violet Zharku, said the amount of money she makes from renting her 50 units will longer keep up with the costs of running and repairing the apartments, forcing her family to look for other income streams to keep the three fully stabilized buildings in minimum shape.<\/p>\n The attorney for the landlords, former first deputy mayor Randy Mastro, called the suit \u201ca check on the Mayor\u2019s abuse of power.\u201d\u00a0 Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cFreezing the rent does not freeze my mortgage, property taxes, insurance, water and sewer bills, utility costs or the cost of repairs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are losing $172,000 annually,\u201d she previously told The Post<\/a>, citing skyrocketing expenses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can no longer invest in capital improvements or apartment renovations beyond critical repairs and we have no choice but to sell the buildings that we have spent generations maintaining,\u201d Zharku\u00a0said.<\/p>\n