New York City mayoral candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is targeting his opponent Zohran Mamdani again for taking advantage of rent-stabilized housing despite making a hefty salary. He even proposed a law in the candidate’s name to close the loophole.
Cuomo is suggesting legislation called “Zohran’s Law” that would prevent privileged New Yorkers like Mamdani from living in rent-stabilized apartments, the New York Post reported on Sunday.
Mamdani makes $142,000 per year as a state assemblyman. His mother is a successful filmmaker and his father is a professor. Yet he’s been able to obtain a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens, for only $2,300 per month.
“I’m calling the legislation ‘Zohran’s Law.’ This is obviously an abuse of the system,” Cuomo told the New York Post. He added, “We’re not supposed to be providing rent-stabilized apartments to the children of millionaires.”
The law would institute a “means test” based on the rent and other specific factors, although Cuomo hasn’t outlined the framework yet.
This isn’t the first time Cuomo has gone after Mamdani for his living situation.
“Somewhere last night in New York City, a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter because you, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, are occupying her rent-controlled apartment,” Cuomo wrote last week in a viral tweet.
“You grew up rich and married an even wealthier woman,” he continued. “You’ve had weddings on 3 continents. You own property in LGTBQIA+ murderous Uganda. You make $142,000 a year plus stipends, and your wife works too, meaning you together likely make well over $200,000. No matter which way you cut it: Zohran Mamdani is a rich person. You are actually very rich.”
Somewhere last night in New York City, a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter because you, assemblyman @ZohranKMamdani are occupying her rent controlled apartment.
You grew up rich and married an even wealthier woman. You’ve had weddings on 3 continents.… https://t.co/kWXUI0MxdA pic.twitter.com/mvYZfCO8Af
— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) August 8, 2025
Is NYC so far gone politically that it deserves Zohran Mamdani?
“I am calling on you to move out immediately and give your affordable housing back to an unhoused family who need it. Leaders must show moral clarity. Time to move out,” Cuomo concluded.
The post had garnered almost 34 million views as of Monday.
Mamdani, who is the Democratic Party’s nominee for the November election, has promised a rent freeze for government-regulated apartments if he wins. Although Cuomo lost the primary to Mamdani, he’s still planning to run as an independent.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is also running as an independent after dropping out of the primary due to federal corruption charges. They were later dismissed with help from Trump’s Justice Department.
Rent control and stabilization are a disaster, no matter how you cut it.
These policies can create housing shortages, raise prices elsewhere, and artificially distort the market. None of the aforementioned candidates have a sound plan to fix housing. In fact, one of Mamdani’s solutions on housing was to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
So it’s hard to say whether it would be better for Mamdani to win or lose, despite his radical agenda.
If he were to become mayor and implement his policies, they’d likely fail and irreparably hurt New Yorkers. His win would also launch another far-left socialist into the limelight, causing an unknown ripple effect.
There would definitely be political tension with the White House as well that could eventually result in federal intervention from Trump.
If Mamdani were to lose, however, and Cuomo or Adams won, they’d simply limp along as they city decayed. It would just be at a slower rate.
It appears the citizens of New York City are between a rock and a hard place. But they’ve made their rent-controlled beds by voting liberal all these years. Now it’s time to sleep in them.
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