The rent for the Queens apartment previously occupied by New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to increase by $800, marking a 35% hike from what the socialist politician paid, as reported by The New York Post.
The Astoria apartment, which has been quietly drawing interest from potential tenants, is now priced at $3,100 per month while maintaining its rent-stabilized status.
Mamdani, who plans to move into Gracie Mansion with his artist wife Rama Duwaji after his inauguration on January 1, benefited from a preferential rent during his seven-year tenancy, paying around $2,300 monthly due to his landlord's decision to charge below the legally permissible rate.
The son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia professor Mahmood Mamdani, he enjoyed a temporary discounted rate, a common practice landlords use to attract tenants in less competitive markets.
However, with New York City's rental market in disarray and prices soaring to unprecedented levels, the next tenant will not receive the same advantage. "Isnt that just the Democratic Socialists of Americas New York in a nutshell?" remarked NYC Council Minority Leader Joanne Ariola, a Republican from Queens.
She criticized the situation, stating, "A nepo baby leaves his under-market apartment for a mansion, the price gets jacked up for the next guy, and some ill-conceived legislation forces the landlords to make an off-market listing to avoid the fees progressive policies shoved down their throats."
Mamdani, who campaigned on promises of affordability and a commitment to freezing rent increases, confirmed to The Post that he is leaving his modest apartment. "Im giving it up!" he declared to a Post reporter outside the 35th Street building on December 20, dismissing questions about any sentimental attachment to the place.
The unit is being leased off-market, a trend that has surged since the implementation of the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act in June. This controversial broker-fee ban, which Mamdani supported as a state Assemblyman, has contributed to rising rents as the fee is now incorporated into rental prices.
The FARE Act has led to a 77% drop in new listings on the Real Estate Board of New Yorks Residential Listing Service, as brokers increasingly keep exclusive listings off-market to circumvent the ban, according to an analysis by UrbanDigs. Coupled with the 2019 rent reforms, which have made it more financially viable for landlords to leave rent-stabilized units vacant, the supply of available housing has reached a historic low, driving rents to new heights.
Councilman Robert Holden, a conservative Democrat from Queens, expressed frustration, saying, "This is exactly what New Yorkers are sick of: politicians who benefit from housing arrangements while pushing policies that make rents higher and listings disappear for everyone else."
Holden further criticized Mamdani and others like him, stating, "It is always the same story with nepo baby communists backed by trust funds who never pay the price for the policies they impose. If Mamdanis idea of affordable housing only works for him and no one else, then it is not affordable. It is hypocrisy." During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani faced scrutiny for residing in his low-cost apartment despite earning a $142,000 salary as a Queens assemblyman and having access to substantial family wealth.
Mamdani explained that he secured the apartment in Astoria, often referred to as the "Peoples Republic of Astoria," in late 2018 when he was earning approximately $47,000 annually as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor. He claimed ignorance of the unit's rent-stabilized status. In 2019, he expressed dissatisfaction with the rent, stating on X, "Today, our 1 bedroom rent stabilized apartment in Astoria costs us $2000/month. In 1984, this same apartment cost $290.60/month. What is this, if not theft?" He encouraged his followers to verify their apartments' stabilization status and request their rent history.
Despite its noble intentions, New York City's rent-stabilized system has been criticized for benefiting a select few, often those with connections or higher incomes, while distorting the broader market by prompting landlords to raise market-rate rents to subsidize stabilized units. Mamdani's team did not respond to The Post's inquiries regarding the price of his Astoria apartment.
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