BURSTAndrew Cuomo is going on offense against fellow New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani over his rent-stabilized apartment despite his well-off financial status.
Cuomo formally unveiled a legislative proposal on Tuesday that he’s calling “Zohran’s Law,” which would require that upon a rent-stabilized apartment becoming vacant, the rent for the next renter must be no less than 30 percent of their income. He said this would ensure that rent-stabilized apartments are available for those who need it and not the wealthy.
“We must build more housing quickly, but we also need to ensure that our rent-stabilized apartments are going to the New Yorkers who need them the most,” the former New York governor said. “They are supposed to be for hardworking men and women, but far too many rich people are taking advantage.
“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,” Cuomo continued.
Mamdani earns over $140,000 per year in his role as a New York state Assembly member and has said he pays $2,300 per month in his rent-stabilized apartment. Cuomo also rents an apartment but pays significantly more than Mamdani does.
A release from Cuomo’s campaign touts his plan to build and preserve more than 500,000 affordable units, two-thirds of which would be for low-income and moderate-income New Yorkers. But he said the affordable units must be for those who truly need them.
The release states about 46 percent of tenants in rent-stabilized apartments and 40 percent of tenants in market-rate housing pay at least 30 percent of their income on rent. The campaign said Cuomo’s proposal builds on a reform he enacted as governor in 2019 to prevent housing units from no longer being rent controlled if the rent or the tenant’s income reached a certain high level.
But some housing experts expressed skepticism about Cuomo’s plan, telling The Associated Press that the proposal would by definition require individuals to pay a significant portion of their income on rent.
The Hill has reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment.
The general election race for New York City mayor has been heating up as Election Day approaches, with Cuomo running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani. The field is made up of five candidates — Mamdani, Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden.
Adams is a registered Democrat but is also running as an independent.
Mamdani has hit back at Cuomo recently, taking shots at a phone call that Cuomo and President Trump reportedly had to discuss the race. Cuomo denied this, saying he “can’t remember” the last time he spoke to Trump and that he and Trump haven’t ever discussed the race.
Mamdani also released a video on Tuesday criticizing Cuomo over a consulting business he’s had for the past couple years without publicly revealing his clients, calling on him to release a list.
Mamdani has led in polling of the general election by double digits, with the other candidates splitting opposition to him.