Zohran Mamdani vows to 'immediately freeze’ the rent for some NYC tenants if he’s the next mayor — and ‘take control’ of property from bad landlords. Does his plan make sense?

His campaign platform includes an ambitious section titled “Cracking Down on Bad Landlords,” highlighting that one in ten renter households reported a lack of adequate heat last winter, while one in four dealt with mice or rats in their homes.

“Starting on day one, we will expand the city’s special enforcement programs, doubling fines for hazardous violations, and tripling them for conditions that are immediately dangerous,” Mamdani declared on his YouTube channel recently, standing outside a building on West 83rd Street he described as belonging to “one of the worst landlords in NYC.”

“And when a really bad landlord refuses to fix it? The city is going to step in, make the repairs and send them the bill. If that doesn’t work, the city is taking over the building. We’re putting the worst landlords out of business.”

Freeze rents because ‘landlords are doing just fine’

While maintaining safe living conditions is an obligation for landlords, Mamdani is proposing to go much further by directly confronting rent affordability — with a hard stop on increases.

“As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent,” his campaign website states.

Mamdani explained on TikTok that more than two million New Yorkers live in rent-stabilized units, where rents are set by the Rent Guidelines Board — a nine-member panel appointed by the mayor. Mamdani criticized the current board, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, for raising rents “every year [Adams] has been in office.”

“Currently eight of Adams’ nine appointees’ terms are up and could be replaced tomorrow — and that’s exactly what I would do,” Mamdani said. “Rent freezes have happened before. [Former NYC mayor] De Blasio’s board did it three times — I would do the same every year, only appointing those who understand that landlords are doing just fine.”

It’s a bold proposal, but not everyone is convinced it will achieve the intended results.

Shark Tank star and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban was blunt in dismissing Mamdani’s platform as unrealistic.

“We're cutting rents, right? We're changing grocery stores. None of that sh-t has a chance. Doesn't matter,” Cuban said of Mamdani’s proposals in a recent Pod Save America episode. “This guy is walking in telling me he's going to walk on water.”

Emily Hamilton, director of the Urbanity Project at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, also warned that the rent freeze could end up making the city’s housing crisis even worse.

“It's going to exacerbate the city's housing quality problems that the current rent stabilization law is already exacerbating,” Hamilton told FOX Business. “A rent freeze would just make that worse, and ultimately will contribute to the reduction in the supply of rent-stabilized units.”

Earn rental income without becoming a landlord

Owning property is often touted as a proven way to generate passive income — but the reality can be different.

If you choose to be a landlord, you’ll need to find reliable tenants, collect rent and handle maintenance and repair requests — all on your own dime. And as Mamdani’s proposals have reminded everyone, being a landlord comes with real responsibilities and may not be nearly as passive as it sounds.