Not only is a disastrous 2019 state law pushing rent-regulated units off the market by the tens of thousands, the city’s efforts to get those “zombie” apartments on the market have stalled — and Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze promises to make the crisis even worse.
Six years ago, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the “Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act” into law, making it impossible for landlords ever to recoup the cost of bringing units up to code (as other laws require) when a tenant moves out after decades.
Such repairs and upgrades can easily cost $100,000 or more; pre-2019, the building owner could hike the rent to finance the work — but no more, so now thousands of apartments fall off the market every year…