The socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani keeps saying that few landlords use the city’s hardship program for rent-stabilized buildings. This, according to the Assembly member, proves that they are doing just fine.
But what is this mysterious program? Does it even exist?
Mamdani himself does not seem to know.
When the owner of a four-unit, money-losing building asked Mamdani last week which program he’s talking about, the candidate looked to an aide for help. No such luck.
They took the landlord’s information and pledged to get back to him when they figured out what program Mamdani was referring to. The Real Deal also reached out to Mamdani’s campaign but did not hear back.
Isaac Rabinovitch, the building owner who chatted with Mamdani outside of a Rent Guidelines Board meeting Thursday, is the kind of small landlord politicians say they want to help. But despite an extensive search, he has yet to find a government program that pertains to him.
It was no surprise that Mamdani could not cite one: Rabinovitch had already been told by HPD’s commissioner and deputy commissioners that no agency program is designed for situations like his.
Rabinovitch did not set out to be a Manhattan landlord. He bought a row house in 2020 to live in, but it came with three other units. Two are rent-stabilized, and the free-market unit is a fourth-floor walkup that doesn’t command a high rent.
“We lose money every year,” he said.
That would be true even if he did not have to make mortgage payments or if he rented out his own apartment. The legal rents on the stabilized units are so low that revenue does not cover operating costs.
Aside from the usual expenses, such as property taxes, utilities and insurance, the city has passed a slew of laws that add to Rabinovitch’s costs. They range from gas line inspections to gas detectors to new trash cans. More such bills have been introduced.
“I made a list of compliance things I have to do in 2025 because of new laws,” he said. “It was about $13,500.” That’s more than the annual rent for one of his rent-stabilized units.
Here’s the breakdown for his four-unit building:
“They’re all good causes,” he said. “I want my gas lines and parapets inspected for safety. But there’s no funding for any of this.”
Rabinovitch noted that the first gas line inspection (which requires a master plumber and costs $600) was pointless because he had just re-piped the building. “The guy looked at me and said, ‘Why am I here?’”
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development does have programs to assist building owners, but they are narrowly tailored for specific circumstances. The New York Apartment Association has met with agency officials to explain why each one doesn’t work for struggling owners. Rabinovitch has pored over them as well.
“Most of them focused on capital improvements, rehabilitation or violation fixes,” he said. “I don’t need building improvements. I need rents to match operational costs. Right now, the city is both mandating that costs rise while also requiring rents to stay below those costs.”
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