Andrew Cuomo on Monday mentioned that as mayor, he’d push to require New Yorkers trying to transfer into rent-stabilized residences to pay at the least 30% of their revenue in lease yearly.
The 30% requirement would, by definition, make these new tenants lease–burdened.
The proposal, known as “Zohran’s Law,” is a political shot at Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani: Over the weekend, Cuomo accused Mamdani, who makes $142,000 as a state assemblymember, of being too rich to reside in his rent-stabilized house.
“They are supposed to be for hard-working men and women, but far too many rich people are taking advantage,” Cuomo mentioned of rent-stabilized models. “We must stop the Zohran Mamdanis of the world from gaming the system and boxing out lower income New Yorkers who are barely scraping by and Zohran’s law will do that.”
The brand new proposal, nevertheless, wouldn’t truly give Mamdani the boot from his $2,300-a-month one bed room. The brand new guidelines would take impact after the present tenant leaves the house.
Hire-stabilized models are typically cheaper than market-price models as a result of lease raises are restricted by town’s Hire Pointers Board, and low-income tenants make up over half of their occupancy citywide.
“Andrew Cuomo — the disgraced former governor who casually handed a billion-dollar tax break to Elon Musk — wants working New Yorkers to prove how much they are struggling before he approves their lease,” Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani, mentioned of the plan. “While Cuomo cares only for the well-being of his Republican donors, Zohran believes city government’s job is to guarantee a life of dignity, not determine who is worth one.”
Mamdani has mentioned he moved into the house when he was making $47,000 a 12 months.
“Cuomo shells out $8,000 a month for a luxury Midtown apartment — more than most New Yorkers make — no wonder he’s so out of touch,” Darius Gordon, Government Director of the Met Council on Housing, mentioned in response to Cuomo’s proposal. “He has no idea what it’s like to scrape together rent every month. Every New Yorker deserves the protections of rent stabilization: automatic lease renewal and limits on outrageous rent hikes.”
Earlier on Monday, Mamdani slammed Cuomo’s accusations as a determined try to take him down politically and proof he lives “rent free” within the ex-governor’s head.
“There are important conversations to be had about housing, but this is not what he’s seeking to lead,” Mamdani mentioned at a Midtown press convention.
As governor, Cuomo signed into regulation a coverage successfully blocking landlords from eradicating a unit’s rent-stabilization standing if the tenant earned greater than $200,000 in two years back-to-back.
“Instead of admitting that his housing record is a failure, Cuomo is pushing a proposal that would only apply at the point of vacancy, do nothing to address current abuse of the system, and rely on landlords to act as income police,” Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams’ marketing campaign mentioned. “That’s not leadership — it’s political theater.”
Initially Printed: August 11, 2025 at 1:39 PM EDT
