• Mayor Zohran Mamdani revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants hours after midnight inauguration, appointing tenant organizer Cea Weaver as director
• Two new task forces will identify city-owned properties for housing and eliminate bureaucratic barriers slowing construction
• City taking unprecedented action to intervene in Pinnacle Realty bankruptcy case affecting 93 buildings with thousands of violations

NEW YORK, NY (TDR) — Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched his administration Thursday with sweeping housing initiatives, signing executive orders aimed at protecting renters and accelerating development just hours after taking office as New York City’s youngest mayor in more than a century.

“Today is the start of a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said at a Brooklyn press conference held at a rent-stabilized building facing unsafe conditions. “It is inauguration day. It is also the day that the rent is due.”

The 34-year-old democratic socialist made housing his immediate priority, unveiling three executive orders targeting what he described as negligent landlords and systemic failures that have driven New York’s affordability crisis. The moves signal an aggressive use of mayoral power on issues that dominated his campaign.

Tenant Protection Office Returns

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The first executive order reestablishes the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which will coordinate city agencies to ensure swift action on behalf of renters facing unsafe or illegal conditions. The office aims to hold landlords accountable for hazardous violations and unresolved 311 complaints.

Cea Weaver, executive director of Housing Justice for All and a key architect of New York’s 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, will lead the revitalized office. The landmark 2019 legislation closed loopholes that allowed landlords to dramatically increase rents during vacancies and deregulate rent-stabilized apartments.

“You cannot hold landlords who violate the law to account unless you have a proven, principled and tireless fighter at the helm,” Mamdani said in announcing Weaver’s appointment. “That is why I am proud today to announce my friend Cea Weaver as the director of the newly reinvigorated Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.”

Under Weaver’s leadership, Housing Justice for All grew from a single-person operation into a statewide coalition that secured victories including the state’s first eviction moratorium during the pandemic.

Task Forces Target Development Delays

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Mamdani’s second executive order creates the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) task force, which will identify city-owned properties suitable for housing development by July 1, 2026. The initiative aims to leverage public land to increase supply and drive down costs across the city’s competitive real estate market.

The third order establishes the Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development (SPEED) task force, charged with removing bureaucratic and permitting barriers that increase construction costs and cause delays. Both task forces will operate under the oversight of Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg.

“These are sweeping measures, but it is just the beginning of a comprehensive effort to champion the cause of tenants,” Mamdani said.

City Intervenes in Bankruptcy Case

In what Mamdani called “precedent-setting action,” the city announced it will intervene in the Pinnacle Realty bankruptcy case. The landlord faces more than 5,000 housing violations, 14,000 complaints across 83 buildings, and owes money to the city. The bankruptcy proceeding threatens to transfer the properties to another landlord who ranks sixth on New York’s worst landlords list.

The mayor tasked newly appointed Corporation Counsel Steve Banks with representing the city’s interests and fighting for tenants facing potential displacement. A resident at the Brooklyn building where Mamdani spoke described living with an unrepaired hardwood floor section in their mother’s apartment for seven years.

“When they filed for bankruptcy this spring, Pinnacle gambled on making our housing less affordable and our lives more miserable,” the resident said.

Mamdani characterized the intervention as demonstrating the city’s willingness to exercise its full authority. “The city of New York has not lacked for tools or tactics,” he said. “The city of New York has lacked for intent.”

Additional Administrative Changes

Beyond housing, Mamdani revoked all executive orders issued on or after September 26, 2024 — the day former Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges.

“That was a date that marked a moment when many New Yorkers decided that politics held nothing for them but more of the same,” Mamdani said.

He also restructured City Hall leadership, establishing five deputy mayor positions compared to the larger Adams administration, and confirmed he will maintain the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism.

Will Mamdani’s aggressive first-day actions set the tone for sustained confrontation with landlords, or prove difficult to maintain amid budget constraints and political opposition?

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