New York City’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, promised not just to freeze rents for 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, but also to build another 200,000 affordable units and preserve another 200,000. Those goals just got harder because the two biggest buyers of mortgage loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have responded to the mayor’s economics by making it harder for property owners to obtain financing.
Mamdani campaigned throughout 2025 on a promise to “freeze the rent” for people living in New York City’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, 44% of which are occupied by people born outside the United States. Mamdani first had to replace six of the nine members of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board before he could secure the votes needed to make good on his promise, but once his lackeys were in place, the mayor pushed through the rent freeze in June.
