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Criticism against socialist candidate for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, over his acquisition of a rent-stabilized apartment as someone who makes close to $150,000 a year, is ramping up after a watchdog issued a complaint to New York’s government ethics commission.
The issue came front-and-center earlier this month after Mamdani’s opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, began criticizing Mamdani for occupying a rent-stabilized apartment as a New York state assemblyperson who makes around $150,000 per year. Cuomo recently announced plans to pass “Zohran’s Law,” which he said would “keep the rich out of New York’s affordable housing.”
“It has been reported that New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani resides in a one-bedroom, rent-stabilized apartment in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. In public statements, Mr. Mamdani has said his monthly rent is approximately $2,300. According to publicly available rental market data, the average rent for a comparable one-bedroom in Astoria is about $3,002,” stated a complaint filed with the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government by American Institute for Economic Research economist Jason Sorens, reviewed by Fox News Digital.
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“Questions have been raised in public discussion about the timeline of his tenancy in relation to when New York State ethics rules apply to elected officials,” Sorens complaint continued. “If at the start of Mr. Mamdani’s tenancy, the relevant ethics regulations were applicable to him, then it could be appropriate to investigate whether any assistance he may have received in securing a rent-stabilized apartment qualified as a gift under the law.”
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital, but the Democratic Party candidate has argued that he moved into the apartment when he was only making $47,000 and was not even aware of the fact it was rent-stabilized.
“Right-wing think tanks and MAGA billionaires’ pathetic attempts to distract from Zohran Mamdani’s mission to make NYC more affordable will fail, just as they did in the primary where New Yorkers resoundingly rejected Andrew Cuomo in a humiliating defeat,” Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said, according to the New York Post.
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However, Sorens described Mamdani’s defense that he didn’t know his apartment was rent-stabilized as “implausible,” citing the mayoral candidate’s background working as a foreclosure specialist.
“I’ve candidly found it implausible that while working as a Tenant Advocate, he would not know that his own apartment was rent stabilized, particularly since it’s such a big benefit, not just when you sign the lease, but obviously for every year going forward that you maintain it,” Sorens said.
“I don’t know about you, but for my family, that would be a significant windfall. We would notice that. So it’s curious, maybe he was telling the truth, but it is curious that he insists that he didn’t know.”
Sorens also argued that given the scarcity of affordable apartments in New York City, “it invites a question about whether someone may have helped him as a politically connected activist.”
“The bigger picture here, really, is that, you know, I’m not a political operative. I’m an economist. But I study rent control, and one of the negative side effects of rent control and rent stabilization is that these policies create an artificial skinny of affordable apartments, and it rewards having pull,” Sorens concluded.
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