Cuomo says rent-stabilized tenants should pay at least 30% of their income in rent
The 30% requirement would, by definition, make those new tenants rent-burdened.
The proposal, called '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 wealthy to live in his rent-stabilized apartment.
'They are supposed to be for hard-working men and women, but far too many rich people are taking advantage,' Cuomo said of rent-stabilized units. '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 new proposal, however, wouldn't actually give Mamdani the boot from his $2,300-a-month one bedroom. The new rules would take effect after the current tenant leaves the apartment.
Rent-stabilized units are generally cheaper than market-price units because rent raises are restricted by the city's Rent Guidelines Board, and low-income tenants make up over half of their occupancy citywide.
Mamdani has said he moved into the apartment when he was making $47,000 a year.
'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, Executive Director of the Met Council on Housing, said 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 desperate attempt to take him down politically and proof he lives 'rent free' in 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 said at a Midtown press conference.
As governor, Cuomo signed into law a policy effectively blocking landlords from removing a unit's rent-stabilization status if the tenant earned more 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' campaign said. 'That's not leadership — it's political theater.'
_____
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tariff revenue makes it hard for Supreme Court to rule against Trump, Bessent says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Increasing revenues flowing into U.S. government coffers from tariffs would make it difficult for the Supreme Court to rule against the Trump administration on the issue if a lower court case makes its way to country's top court, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday. "The more money coming in, it gets harder and harder for SCOTUS to rule against us," Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network's "Kudlow." Bessent was responding to a question about a case currently in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., which challenges the legality of what Trump calls "reciprocal" tariffs as well as a separate set of tariffs imposed in February against China, Canada and Mexico.
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former aide to NYC Mayor Eric Adams pleads guilty in straw donor scheme
NEW YORK — Former City Hall aide Mohamed Bahi pleaded guilty to conspiracy Tuesday for his role in organizing illegal straw donor contributions toward Eric Adams's 2021 campaign for mayor. Bahi, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy related to wire fraud in Manhattan federal court. He admitted to helping to organize a December 2020 fundraiser at which construction company employees donated money they'd later be reimbursed. Bahi said he did so knowing Adams's campaign would be able to use the donations to seek matching funds from the city 'and that it was wrong.' In a separate case, Adams was accused of soliciting bribes and illegal contributions to both his 2021 and 2025 campaigns, mostly from Turkish government operatives. Those charges were dropped in a controversial move by President Donald Trump's Justice Department. As part of his plea deal, Bahi waived his right to appeal and agreed to pay $32,000 in restitution and between $2,000 to $20,000 in fines. The terms will be set at his sentencing, which was set for Nov. 18. ----------
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Crazy!!': How Labor Statistics staff reacted to Trump firing commissioner after dismal jobs report
WASHINGTON (AP) — 'Depressing.' 'CRAZY!!' That's how staff at the Bureau of Labor Statistics reacted after President Donald Trump fired its commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, after a dismal jobs report issued Aug. 1 undermined the White House's claims of an economic boom. The emails obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act suggest an agency with little of the corrupting partisanship that Trump had claimed. He called the report 'phony' and 'rigged' after it indicated a paltry 73,000 jobs were added in July and after downward revisions that showed 258,000 fewer jobs were added in May and June than previously reported. After the commissioner's firing, BLS employees talked about the importance of accurate numbers and professional integrity in producing data that is foundational for measuring the economy and holding elected officials accountable for how the nation performs. Officials at the agency sought to rally morale by focusing on their task at hand at a time when outside economists wondered if Trump had compromised the credibility of reports on jobs, inflation and other key economic indicators. The president has said without evidence that the numbers were meant to make him and other Republicans look bad — his latest effort to interfere with the functions of executive branch agencies, including the Federal Reserve. 'This news is sudden, but our mission is unchanged — to provide high quality data to the nation,' William Wiatrowski, the acting commissioner, told the staff in an email. 'Thank you for all the good work you do.' One assistant commissioner told staff to persevere just as a ship's crew might after losing its captain. 'We may have lost our captain but the ship will not go down,' the assistant commissioner wrote. 'We will neither hit an iceberg and sink to the ocean floor, nor run aground on a low-lying shoal. We are not rudderless. We remain ... guided by our mission to provide gold-standard statistics the public can trust.' For her part, McEntarfer stayed stoic in her email to staff, choosing not to dwell on her firing by the president. Instead, she thanked BLS employees for the importance of their work. "Our data moves markets because it is some of the most timely and accurate information on economic conditions that businesses and policymakers have," she wrote. 'BLS data impacts the decisions of the Fed, the President, Congress, and millions of businesses and households. The work of this agency is vital to the US economy.' The White House maintains that McEntarfer was removed because the size of the revisions suggested that the monthly jobs report was flawed. As part of each jobs report, the BLS revises the prior months' data two times. It also issues an annual benchmark revision after getting more complete survey information, an effort that is meant to balance being timely with being accurate. Trump announced Monday that he would nominate E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the BLS. Antoni told Fox News Digital in an interview before the announcement that the BLS 'should suspend issuing the monthly job reports' because of inaccuracies and offer quarterly updates instead. When asked at Tuesday's White House briefing whether the monthly jobs report would continue to be released, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration hoped it would be. 'I believe that is the plan and that's the hope,' Leavitt said. Josh Boak, The Associated Press
