Mamdani, Landlord Lobbyist In Rent Freeze Standoff

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani held his first official meeting at City Hall with Kenny Burgos, chief executive of the New York Apartment Association, in a 30-minute closed-door conversation.

The talk did not include discussion of Mamdani’s signature campaign pledge to freeze rents, Burgos said.

“We didn’t discuss it at all,” Burgos said. “Why would we? If he’s not going to change his position, we’re not going to change ours. I mean that would have just quite honestly been a waste of both of our time.”

Burgos said the two instead focused on issues where they found common ground, including: building conditions, scaffolding, property tax policy and housing costs.

Mamdani has called for a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments, a policy that would require approval from the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-member panel that sets annual increases for more than 2 million units.

The board last year approved increases of 3 percent on one-year leases and 4.6 percent on two-year leases under the previous administration.

Burgos, who leads a landlord trade group representing owners of rent-stabilized buildings, said the meeting stayed largely cordial despite sharp policy differences.

“He admittedly opened up in the way that I was going to open up,” Burgos said. “We recognize that we have public disagreements on certain policies.”

Burgos, a former state Assembly member who served with Mamdani, said he believes the Mayor has shown greater interest than prior administrations in addressing structural housing issues, even if they disagree on rent policy.

He added that he expects further discussions with City Hall.

“We can’t solve world peace in 30 minutes, but I do think that we can start this conversation on all those issues that we have alignment and similar interests on,” Burgos said. “We all want the same thing at the end of the day.”

Burgos said he remains opposed to a rent freeze, calling it “still a bad policy.”

The meeting appeared on the Mayor’s schedule shortly after Mamdani marked 100 days in office, an event that included a campaign-style appearance by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Burgos said the conversation had been planned for weeks and rescheduled from an earlier date.

Mamdani has not publicly commented on the substance of the meeting.