The newly-inaugurated mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, got off to a fast start, signing three executive orders he said are designed to tackle the city’s housing crisis.
ABC 7 in New York, reported that one executive order will revive the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants that will function as a central coordinating body to defend tenants’ rights, stand up to landlords, and ensure city agencies act swiftly on behalf of renters facing unsafe or illegal conditions.
The station said that Cea Weaver, currently Executive Director of Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc, will head the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants as executive director.
“Today, on the first day of this new administration, on the day where so many rent payments are due, we will not wait to deliver action. We will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city,” Mamdani said.
New Task Forces Created
The other two executive orders create task forces related to accelerating housing development.
The LIFT (Land Inventory Fast Track) task force will identify city-owned properties suitable for housing development, ABC7 reported.
The SPEED (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) task force will identify and remove bureaucratic and permitting barriers that increase costs and slow the construction of housing, the station said.
The task forces will be overseen by the deputy mayor for housing and planning.
The new mayor chose to hold the press conference at 85 Clarkson Ave. in Brooklyn, a rent-stabilized building where residents have threatened a rent strike.
Buildings to be Auctioned
The building, owned by Pinnacle Realty, is one of 90-plus buildings in bankruptcy proceedings set to be auctioned off to a different landlord who ranks No. 6 on the list of worst landlords in New York City, according to Mamdani.
He said the city will be taking action in the bankruptcy case, and will step in to represent the interests of the city and tenants.
Mamdani tasked Steve Banks, newly appointed as counsel corporation, to take action.
“It is a very important moment now today for the city of New York to say we are going to be in that proceeding in a way in which the path forward is not simply to address the city’s interests – but the city’s interests are also bound up with the tenants’ interests,” Banks said.
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