New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani promoted a Big Apple “where every family can afford a home” and ripped “ICE’s cruelty and violence” Saturday as he faces criticism for proposing hiking property taxes to balance the city’s budget.
Mamdani made the remarks while paying tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson at an event hosted by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
“When New Yorkers link arms with someone they have never met before and marched for the voiceless and the downtrodden, hope is alive. When New Yorkers sacrifice their precious free time in a city where every child can have the education that they deserve, where every family can afford a home in the stability that it holds, where our criminal justice system is fair and our economy is just, when New Yorkers link arms in the fight for those things, hope is alive,” Mamdani said.
“Hope is the light. And we know this, that while Reverend Jackson may not be with us any longer, his purpose has not dimmed, his clarity has not faded. As we work every day towards a New York that delivers dignity for all, towards a nation that rejects ICE’s cruelty and violence, towards the stranger among us, and towards a society where compassion is not a rarity, where solidarity is not abstract, let the reverend’s words be our guide,” he added.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters about the city’s finances during a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (Seth Wenig/AP)
During a news conference on Tuesday, Mamdani called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers in Albany to raise income taxes on the “ultra-wealthy and the most profitable corporations” to help close the city’s budget gap.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a tribute honoring the life of Rev. Jesse Jackson, hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN), at the Mother AME Zion Church in New York City, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
This increase would affect approximately 3 million homes across working and middle-class New Yorkers.
Some New York City residents now argue that Mamdani is reneging on his affordable housing campaign promises by floating potentially hiking property taxes.
“You are giving only two options. You’re saying if we don’t tax the rich then I gotta increase property taxes,” one Queen homeowner, James Johnson, reportedly told WABC. “We are not a pawn in Southeast Queens. We are not part of your negotiation tactics.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shakes hands with Rev. Al Sharpton, with New York Attorney General Letitia James and director Spike Lee next to them, during a tribute honoring the life of Rev. Jesse Jackson in New York City, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
For much of photography’s history, male portraiture preserved a degree of emotional distance, presenting men as stoic, authoritative and restrained. Dean Majd has spent the better part of a decade pursuing a more nuanced portrayal of masculinity in photographs that capture men in moments of profound vulnerability and mutual dependence, chronicling friendship and conflict with great candor and empathy. His subjects are his peers and friends, and his images carry the immediacy of lived experience, unfolding in bedrooms, bathrooms, skateparks and other spaces where genuine moments of revelry and collapse unfold.
Born in Queens to Palestinian immigrant parents, Majd is self-taught, and his practice has been deeply shaped by the city that continues to anchor his work. His photographs have appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Magazine, GQ Middle East, Aperture and Dazed, and he has exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of the City of New York. Editorial commissions—from photographing Zohran Mamdani for Vogue to Kareem Rahma for the New Yorker—signal a growing recognition of his distinct visual sensibility.
Most recently, his debut solo exhibition, “Hard Feelings,” opened at BAXTER ST at the Camera Club of New York—a stunning series of portraits of intimacy, grief, tenderness and pain among young men. Majd’s use of light and shadow recalls the dramatic chiaroscuro of Baroque painting, isolating gestures and faces with theatrical precision while also heightening the humanity of his subjects.
Prompted in part by the sudden death of a childhood friend, the series traces the lives of a tight-knit group of young men as they navigate the full emotional continuum of human existence. Majd allows affection, confusion and fragility to occupy the frame without restraint, expanding the emotional register available to male portraiture, particularly for men of color whose interior lives have historically been flattened or erased. If the exhibition’s photographs feel unusually intimate, it is because they are not constructed from observation alone but from proximity, trust and shared history. In this conversation, Majd reflects on the emotional stakes of that closeness and the visual language he built to contain it.
Your work resists the flattening gaze often directed at men, and men of color in particular. What visual or ethical principles guide your representation of these subjects?
I began making this work with the goal of creating a record of truth, images that would only exist for my friends and me. I had not seen anyone who looked like us in popular media, or even social media, really. I felt like we were outcasts in a way. We built our own world, this special world that no one else had access to. We were everything, so I felt the need to document it in the most authentic manner. Just for us and nobody else. I respect my subjects, and the images were borne out of love. The only way they can be made is if there is trust between us.
I never went in with ideas of what images should be made. I just photographed what I saw and who I spent all my time with. Everything needed to be candid or impromptu. I wanted to photograph the good, the bad, the happiness, the pain and everything in between. I rarely held back, even in the hardest times. And I did the same with myself, too. I documented myself in my hardest times, putting myself on the line as well. It was my life and my story to tell. And the images I did not take are the ones I remember the most; they genuinely haunt me. It’s better to take the photo and discuss if it should go out in the world than to never make it at all.
I never want to present people as perfect. These principles, over time, created a natural, authentic range of the masculine experience, especially that of men of color.
Dean Majd, suba (sunshower), 2020. Archival pigment print, mounted to dibond, framed 46.25 in. x 31.25 in. x 1.75 in. Copyright and courtesy Dean Majd
Has your own identity informed your image-making? Or do you prefer to approach your practice more broadly?
I allow my feelings and my interests to lead my image-making. My work is oftentimes driven directly by what is occurring in my life at the moment. I’m concerned with understanding people, specifically those who have been subjected to violence, state-sponsored or otherwise, because my community and I have been subjected to so much of it.
Being Palestinian, I experienced grief at a very young age and learned that empathy and grief go hand-in-hand. That grief helped me develop an infinite well of empathy, and that empathy has become the foundation of my practice. I resist the notion that I have to make work about my identity because I’m Palestinian-American and Muslim, but being Palestinian is the reason why I can make the work I make, regardless of the subject matter.
What inspired “Hard Feelings”?
I didn’t actively pursue this body of work at its inception. Even the title of the series was named on a whim very early on, and somehow has manifested so much truth in our experiences. There was no real inspiration for the project itself, other than my friends and the people around me. In many ways, it feels like it was given to me. My mother gave me a camera when I was seven, and I still haven’t stopped taking photos. I grew up without parental supervision, so I ended up in the graffiti and skate scene in Queens in middle school and high school, and stepped away from the world to pursue a degree in International Relations. I never believed I could succeed as a photographer, so I began taking it seriously for myself as a teenager, and in 2015, I began seriously attempting to make art out of making images in my life.
In 2016, I reconnected with a childhood friend, James, at our local skatepark in Astoria. I took his portrait, and a week later, he tragically passed away in a subway accident. Through his passing, I became close to his predominantly male friend group who were part of Queens, New York’s graffiti and skate scene. We became close through the grief, and I instantly was thrust back into the world I grew up in. They were the first people to encourage me to take photos and pursue photography, and by the end of the year, they gave me full access to their lives.
In my pursuit of a record of truth for my friends and myself, I would take thousands of photos and reflect on them afterward. I realized I was documenting brotherhood, masculinity, male-female relationships, but really, violence, substance misuse, loneliness and self-destruction, including my own. I created a space of vulnerability for men who are often told they need to be invulnerable to survive, a space for my friends and me to face our own shadows. When the work became more public and attracted more attention from strangers, I realized it had the same effect on viewers. It became a mirror for all of our experiences.
Dean Majd, ivan crying in my bedroom, 2021. Archival Pigment Print, Mounted to Dibond, 31.25 in. x 46.25 in. x 1.75 in. Edition 1 of 3 + 1 AP. Copyright and courtesy Dean Majd
There’s a striking use of light and shadow throughout the series. Can you speak to that—do you feel that builds intimacy from the point of view of the viewer?
The aesthetic nature of the work is defined by the subject matter, specifically the lifestyle of my friends and me. The world of graffiti (and skating) largely takes place at night, and can be very violent, toxic and fueled by drugs and alcohol. I’ve always loved the tableaus of Baroque painters, specifically Caravaggio, and filmmakers who work in a kinetic, raw style like Andrea Arnold and John Cassavetes, as well as surrealists and extremists like David Lynch, Gaspar Noé and Lars von Trier. In many ways that seeped into the images themselves, but really, it was serendipitous. My interests and the lives we were living blended perfectly.
At night, my friends are more free and open with themselves. It was almost as if our emotions and actions reached their highest and lowest points when the sun went down. It was most certainly magnified by our collective grief and the substances we were consuming. I was very non-technical at the time; I only really knew how to make images with point-and-shoot cameras.
I had to learn to take photos with very little light, and only used the on-camera flash in small, specific instances. Because of my constant image-making, the nature of candid, impromptu image-making and our trust, the boundaries between us and the camera melted away. My friends could be the most honest and vulnerable within the images. I find that vulnerability cuts through the viewers, allowing them to be vulnerable as well.
The work is an honest representation of my friends’ lives, but I needed the images to be truer than true. The visual language—the intense shadow and illuminating light—created a surreal nature to the images, which would form “representational truths.” The “representational truth” of the images speaks to something greater; allegories, mirrors, that can connect to viewers to grander subject matters around masculinity, violence and hopefully allow them to face their own shadows, face complicated repressed emotions that my friends were facing through the lens. I studied Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic style and her use of allegory in relation to violence and faith. It deeply influenced how I sequenced and presented my images. At the same time, I really frame “Hard Feelings” around the idea of an odyssey: these masculine rites of passage. I wanted to elevate these unseen, unregarded lives to the place of mythology, biblical stories and high art. I wanted to create a legacy for those who are told their lives don’t matter. If the photos were made in a more hard photojournalism style, they’d be more difficult to connect to and overall less universal.
You’ve described your friends as both subjects and collaborators. How do you navigate trust and authorship when photographing people so close to you?
I rarely call my friends subjects. It’s hard to even consider them that; I really see them as family. I often say that these images were given to me as gifts by the people in them. There is an awareness that I’m the recordkeeper, archiving and constructing the narrative of our lives. In a way, they co-author the images, but also release them to me to do what I want with them, to tell their story accurately and respectfully. It requires immense trust.
That trust exists because of my complete openness with the people who end up in front of the camera. After I make the images, I sit and show them the images, oftentimes in person. There would be many times when I would invite them over to my apartment, and I showed them the work like a slideshow. We have constant conversations about whether and when the images will be shared way before they’re put out into the world. My friends bare their souls to me; it’s the least I can do. Because of my openness, I’ve never been denied making images. Whenever someone is uncomfortable with me sharing an image, I respect that decision, and it’s always the right choice. There have been times in which people told me they weren’t comfortable being photographed anymore, and it made our friendship stronger.
Photography is inherently voyeuristic, but I attempt to have a practice that is anti-voyeurism. This is my story and my people. We have gone through so much together. There’s so much pain, so much happiness and everything in between. We share everything with each other. I’m also photographing myself at the best and worst moments of my life, putting it all on the line just like them. We’re very much in this together.
Dean Majd, bohemian rhapsody, 2017. Archival pigment print, mounted to sintra, framed 37 in. x 25 in. x 1.5 in. Copyright and courtesy Dean Majd
Have you dealt with similar issues when photographing subjects you’re less close to in other series?
For years, I had crippling anxiety around photographing strangers, or even people whom I wouldn’t consider loved ones. When I began to make special editorial projects or be commissioned for editorial work, I forced myself to fight through that anxiety. I have learned to build trust with strangers pretty quickly, even if some people resist opening up. I used to think I could only make good images because I was photographing my friends, and because they’re so special. I realized, through my deeply empathetic nature, that I can connect with strangers on that level as well.
The downside is that I absorb people’s pain. It’s the alchemic exchange I have to make; I get to create these intimate images, but I hold onto their emotions for months, oftentimes years. I’ve learned that I need a lot of time to decompress; a lot of alone time of intense exercise, journaling and meditation, just to release the pain. Even with strangers, it all stays with me. The closer I am to the person, the longer the hurt lingers.
There are images in “Hard Feelings” taken before the pandemic—looking at those now, what feelings do they evoke?
Overall, those images feel way more free, way more uninhibited. Intense, but not burdensome. I yearn for that time when things were simpler. Less complicated and more authentic. I’ve inadvertently documented the change of the city and how men of color have been affected by it. In the spectrum of things, it wasn’t that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime. I was also much younger, still in my 20s. The images after the pandemic began are so much more serious and way more melancholy.
Finally, we have to ask. What was it like to photograph Mamdani?
An absolute pleasure. He’s a consummate gentleman and a real-deal New Yorker.
A hotly debated housing bill that would give nonprofits first dibs on property purchases —vetoed by former Mayor Eric Adams hours before he left office — is likely to get a new chance to pass under the Mamdani administration. Its sponsor is already anticipating lawsuits attempting to stop it.
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act would keep housing in the hands of the community and curb landlords selling to big property groups, say advocates and bill sponsor Council Member Sandy Nurse.
It does so, Nurse said, by giving qualified groups like community land trusts the right of first refusal on distressed residential buildings with four or more units. The nonprofits have 25 days to submit a statement of interest, then 80 days to make an official offer on the property before other buyers can take a shot at it.
Since the city began considering COPA five years ago, it’s faced sharp criticism from the real estate industry and Republican council members who say it would open the city up to legal challenges. Critics argue the bill violates private property rights, a landlord’s right to freedom of contract and the Constitution’s takings clause.
Nurse said she’d been told by the city’s Law Department her legislation was legally defensible before the council passed it with a 31-10 vote in December.
However, the city’s Law Department later reached out to Nurse to raise legal red flags — doing so days before she was set to bring COPA back to the floor in an attempt to override Adams’ last-minute veto. Nurse called the move “extremely frustrating” and an example of the “chaotic nature and disorganization” of the Adams administration.
Now, Nurse said, she and her team are working with the Law Department and “seeking to propose some new language to address the concerns.” She declined to share what those concerns were, as discussions were still ongoing.
“The Law Department told us the bill was defensible, but they wanted to make it even stronger … because of the amount of attention on the bill and because the real estate industry spent so much time trying to oppose the legislation,” Nurse said. “We want to make sure that it is as strong as possible in anticipating somebody wanting to sue the council over the legislation.”
The council member said she had “every intention to pass this legislation,” and was working as quickly as possible to reintroduce it.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who supported COPA on the campaign trail, said he’d work with the council to ensure it passes.
His office told amNewYork Law the act would give tenants “a real opportunity to shape the future of their homes.”
“Our administration looks forward to working closely with Council Member Nurse to reintroduce and pass the legislation,” a spokesperson for Mamdani said in a statement.
The future of COPA
City Council Speaker Julie Menin brought up the COPA legal advising mishap when she spoke earlier this month at the confirmation hearing for Steve Banks as head of the Law Department.
Menin said the failure demonstrated that the council needs proactive legal opinions on bills.
“It put the council in a very difficult situation where, weeks after the bill passes, we are hearing red flags from the Law Department,” Menin told Banks. “That cannot happen again.”
Banks promised the speaker nothing similar would happen under his leadership, adding that he had already spoken with Nurse about the bill and that they had “talked about ways to try to move forward” with the legislation. When asked for more details after the hearing, the Law Department said it couldn’t comment on privileged communications.
Menin, who abstained from voting on COPA last year, didn’t respond to questions from amNewYork Law regarding the nature of the red flags and whether she’d support the bill upon reintroduction.
Some real estate attorneys aren’t convinced that just a few changes would prevent the bill from legal challenges.
Sherwin Belkin, a founding partner of real estate firm Belkin, Burden & Goldman, said the entire concept of the bill is problematic.
“I think the notion of the state deciding who a property owner can sell its property to raises significant legal and constitutional questions regarding private property and contract rights,” he said.
“The property owner may feel that [another] party, not the nonprofit, has greater economic stability, will be a better partner to align itself with on sale … This is restricting that,” Belkin continued. “This is saying that’s not really for the seller to determine, but in fact, that’s very much part of private property rights and contractual rights — to be able to determine the stability and feasibility of the party with whom you’re about to enter into a contract.”
Elena Rodriguez, a staff attorney for the New Economy Project, which has advocated for COPA, shot down arguments that the bill would violate private property or contract rights. She emphasized the bill only applies when an owner is voluntarily selling a building, and said landlords are free to turn down a nonprofit’s offer and sell to someone else — they just have to give the nonprofit the chance to make the first offer.
If a landlord does receive an offer from another buyer after they reject a nonprofit’s, they must offer the community group a chance to match it, and then sell to the group if it does. If no nonprofits express interest within the initial 25-day window, a property owner is automatically exempt from granting them the right of first refusal.
“Courts have repeatedly upheld regulations that govern the process of a voluntary sale, and similar laws in San Francisco and elsewhere have taken effect without being struck down,” Rodriguez said.
She added that COPA would only operate prospectively, meaning it wouldn’t interfere with any property actively under contract if passed, and it doesn’t regulate a building’s sale price.
Market concerns
Critics of COPA have also raised concerns that the law would slow down property sales, thus potentially driving down prices and the pool of would-be buyers.
That could create an argument that COPA violates the Constitution’s takings clause, which prevents government overreach into private property, because the procedural hurdles installed by the government could hurt property owners’ return on investment. But even some real estate attorneys say that might be a stretch.
Belkin said the constitutional claim is significantly weaker than the property rights path.
“That argument, I think, is a little more difficult, because you have to demonstrate that there has been an economic injury caused by the bill,” Belkin said. “It would be more speculative at this early time to be able to demonstrate that …but the argument would be that, by so limiting the pool of prospective purchasers, the purchase price will be negatively impacted.”
He and other attorneys said a potential fix might be to reduce the timeframes for nonprofits to make their offers, but Nurse said that wouldn’t be happening. The windows are already shorter than she initially wanted them to be, and it’s necessary to give nonprofits enough time to properly consider making an offer and to gather the necessary funds.
“The real estate industry … wants unfettered access to any potential property. They don’t want to be subject to any interventions that, personally, we think would help address the housing crisis,” Nurse said. “This legislation is meant to create a small window of opportunity for our trusted, mission-driven affordable housing providers to take these properties, purchase them, do light repairs and rehabilitation if needed, and provide safe, affordable housing that New Yorkers can live in.”
“It’s not a guarantee, it’s just an opportunity,” Nurse continued. “It’s a small window of time, and once that window is closed, the private sector can continue to move forward with their mission, which is to make as much money as possible.”
COPA is expected to come up for a vote within this legislative session and will need only a simple majority vote to be sent to Mamdani’s desk.
Six weeks into his tenure, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been confronted with controversies both grave and frivolous. He wisely stood by a top appointee who was facing down a media circus for tweets that were more than a half-decade old. He grappled with the fallout from several police-involved shootings and navigated how, as a democratic socialist who must partner with a much more conservative NYPD commissioner, he should respond.
And he faced down, like just about every mayor before him, the weather. The results were mixed. They offered both encouraging signs for a 34-year-old politician who is going to endure more scrutiny than all of his recent predecessors and warnings for an administration that promised sweeping change but still finds itself struggling with the balky machinery of government. With such high expectations placed upon him, it might grow more difficult for Mamdani to survive, unscathed, crises like the 19 New Yorkers who died outside during a historic cold snap. (An additional seven city residents died in their own homes.)
Before a large snowstorm barreled into New York City at the end of January, the great political question for Mamdani was how quickly his Sanitation Department could get the roadways clear and how well he could communicate the meteorological threat. On that front, Mamdani was plainly successful. He was on television and social media constantly, and he projected the energy and verve he was known for on the campaign trail. This was nothing like Michael Bloomberg ducking a snowstorm for Bermuda or John Lindsay, more than a half-century ago, failing to anticipate a massive snowfall that would kill 42 New Yorkers and paralyze the outer boroughs. Mamdani didn’t even have to beat back criticism that certain neighborhoods were wholly neglected, like de Blasio with the Upper East Side in 2014.
Had the weather been merely seasonal after the snow fell, Mamdani would have received his kudos and skipped along to February. Instead, New York and much of the Northeast endured the most brutal cold in decades. For nine consecutive days, the temperature didn’t climb above freezing. Though this did not technically break a record — in 2018, New York temperatures remained at or below freezing for 14 consecutive days — the lows were in the single digits with horrifying windchill. Large portions of the city waterways iced over completely.
To an extent, the obvious challenge of the cold has insulated Mamdani from greater backlash. The New York Post has hammered him repeatedly, and Julie Menin, the Speaker of the City Council and a possible future mayoral candidate, recently said the New Yorkers who died from the cold “should be alive today,” but there isn’t much evidence — yet — that Mamdani is paying a tremendous political price for the climbing death toll. The Post has tried to blame the cold deaths on Mamdani’s decision to end the sweeps of homeless encampments, but there’s scant evidence most of the New Yorkers who died outside were living in any of these camps. What is helping Mamdani is that two of the city officials who were charged with overseeing the response to the cold snap were Eric Adams holdovers who are about to leave the new administration. Both Molly Wasow Park, the commissioner of the Department of Social Services, and Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency management commissioner, are set to resign, making way for Mamdani’s own appointees.
What could have been done differently? A clear answer hasn’t yet emerged. At a recent City Council hearing, Park said the outdoor deaths fall outside historical norms; in a typical year, an average of ten to 20 homeless people die in the city from hypothermia. It’s actually not known exactly how many of the 19 people who died were homeless. (At least a quarter may have had permanent housing.) Questions have emerged over whether the city was forceful enough when it came to removing people, even against their will, from the streets as the deadly cold descended. The police testified that they have made, since January 19, at least 52 involuntary removals. The city hasn’t revealed how many people have been left on the streets after an interaction with a clinician or police officer instead of being involuntarily committed.
It does appear, at the very minimum, the Mamdani administration was caught somewhat flatfooted. Warming buses were introduced but signage was initially missing. One city councilman said the 311 call he made for a distressed homeless person was never returned. Mamdani said, in the future, he might encourage more New Yorkers in such a situation to call 911 instead of 311. “New Yorkers have been told to cast blame in different places, but I am the mayor,” Mamdani said last week.
At least one administration spokesperson, though, attempted to deflect blame entirely, contra Mamdani. When the Post pressed City Hall for more information about the New Yorkers who had died of the cold indoors, Dora Pekec, the Mamdani spokesperson, said they wouldn’t be releasing additional information because they did not die on city property. “People die in their homes all the time,” Pekec said, which is, if technically true, also callous.
We do not know if other mayors — Bloomberg, de Blasio, Adams, or anyone else — would have handled the response to the cold differently. It’s hard, still, to discern how much of the death was inevitable and how much a result of sclerotic city systems Mamdani has yet to overhaul, letting down the most vulnerable New Yorkers. As a new mayor, Mamdani can claim, credibly, he is still grappling with inefficiencies created by Adams and others. New Yorkers will offer him leeway. How long that leeway lasts is one of the operative questions of his administration.
Mamdani stormed into City Hall like no other mayor before him on a wave of unprecedented voter enthusiasm and global celebrity. The stakes are dramatically raised. He has promised a new era for the city, and he’s now tasked with delivering it. What will be most damaging to his project is disillusionment and cynicism. If it seems like the city still doesn’t work as it should — or like the problems of past administrations, now matter how daunting, aren’t being addressed — the bloom might come off the Mamdani rose.
Social media posts claim to show photos of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a child, along with his mother Mira Nair, attending multiple events with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But the images aren’t real.
American actor Michael Rapaport posted a picture on X showing Nair, a filmmaker, holding a baby and standing next to former President Bill Clinton and Epstein in what looks like a tropical setting.
“Mira Nair holding her baby Zohran Mamdani with Bill and Epstein,” Rapaport wrote Jan. 31. “Yeah….read that again….”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shared another image Feb. 1 on X of what appeared to be Mamdani as a child posing with Nair, Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein, Clinton, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
The images went viral online after the Department of Justice released millions of more documents related to the Epstein files. The files include a 2009 email that says Nair attended an after-party for the film Amelia, which she directed. The party was held at Maxwell’s Manhattan townhouse.
Mamdani was born in 1991 and the email is from 2009, so if Mamdani had attended the party with his mother, he would have been about 18 years old at the time, not a child as the images claim to show.
PolitiFact found that the images of Nair with Mamdani as a child and Epstein were generated with artificial intelligence.
The photos originated on a parody account known as “DFF,” which describes itself on X as sharing “high quality AI videos and memes.”
The accountsharedthe fake photos Jan. 31 and all of them had a “DFF” watermark. It also admitted one of the images was fake, saying, “Damn you guys failed. I purposely made him a baby which would technically make this pic 34 years old. Yikes.”
(Screenshot of AI-images with DFF watermarks)
PolitiFact uploaded the three images shared by DFF to Gemini, Google’s AI tool. It found the images contain the SynthID watermark for images created or edited by the tool. It’s not visible looking at the images, but Google’s technology can detect it.
We rate the claim that images shared on X are real photos of Mamdani as a child with his mother and Epstein Pants on Fire!
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran on a message of making the Big Apple more affordable for everyday Americans, but some of his actions in the first few weeks of his tenure have served to undercut that reality.
In the early days of his time as mayor, Mamdani has already shown a penchant for vehemently defending low-wage, unskilled delivery-app workers in a manner that industry executives and business experts think will hit consumers’ pocketbooks. He sued a delivery app startup earlier this month for allegedly violating the city’s worker-rights laws, and warned the broader range of delivery app companies operating in the city to abide by ramped up worker rights being imposed at the end of the month, or else.
At a press conference announcing the lawsuit and accompanying demand letters issued to delivery app companies warning them to follow the updated worker protections, Mamdani also accused the delivery-app startup, MotoClick, of stealing workers’ tips. Among the reforms Mamdani has signaled he plans to vigorously enforce is a mandated tipping framework that estimates show could push more than half-a-billion in additional costs on consumers annually.
The updated protections will also add more delivery-app companies, such as those that deliver groceries, to the list that must follow the delivery-app worker rights laws, including a mandated minimum wage higher than what some emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in the city make.
Zesty is now in beta in San Francisco and New York as DoorDash tests and refines its personalized matching experience.(iStock)
“We know affordability is not just about the cost of goods — it’s about the dignity of work,” Mamdani’s Commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Sam Levine told companies including DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber. “Today’s lawsuit against Motoclick is not just an action against one company, it’s a warning to every app-based company from this Administration. You cannot treat workers like they are expendable and get away with it. We will seek full back pay and damages. We will seek full accountability.”
Mamdani pointed to a recent report put out by Levine, which showed disobeying city mandates going into effect later this month, requiring apps to give the opportunity for customers to tip before or at the same time that an order has been placed, significantly impacts the amount of incoming tip revenue. Levine’s report that Mamdani touted estimates alternative tipping frameworks, such as only allowing tips upon completion of a delivery, have altered tipping revenue by an estimated $550 million per year.
Mamdani also stood by in tacit agreement during the press conference as delivery-app worker advocates called for an increase to their already mandated minimum wage they have that is approximately $4.50 higher for delivery-app drivers than the city’s base minimum wage of $17 per hour. The workers said they wanted a mandate that they get paid $35 per hour, to which Mamdani replied: “closed mouths don’t get fed.”
Mamdani campaigned on raising the base minimum wage to $30 per hour for all New Yorkers by 2030.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a press conference defending worker rights for delivery-app drivers on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, his eager enforcement to protect delivery-app drivers will include making sure a wider breadth of delivery-app companies, such as those who deliver groceries like InstaCart and Shipt, abide by New York City’s extended minimum wage laws for their workers – plus the other mandates related to the tipping structure and more.
DCWP has indicated plans to set a minimum pay rate for all delivery apps by early 2027.
“The challenges facing delivery workers, small businesses, and consumers are real, and deeply interconnected. That’s why this issue cannot be reduced to a single policy lever or viewed in isolation,” a spokesperson for the Bronx Chamber of Commerce told Fox News Digital. “Small businesses across the Bronx and throughout New York City are already under extraordinary pressure. When additional costs are layered on without a full economic analysis, those costs are predictably passed down to consumers or absorbed through reduced hours, reduced staffing, or closures. When businesses close, communities lose jobs, services, and economic anchors, and the ripple effects are significant.”
The Chamber of Commerce spokesperson added that Mamdani has an opportunity “to lead by tackling affordability in a holistic way,” which they said would require “comprehensive cost analysis and coordinated solutions that support workers while ensuring the small business ecosystem and consumer affordability are not unintentionally harmed.”
Signage reading ‘Days of a New Era’ is juxtaposed behind New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a press conference he attended about reining in ‘junk fees.’(Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When reached for comment about the discrepancy between Mamdani’s message of making New York City more affordable for everyone, versus his push to protect delivery-app worker rights that could impact consumer pricing, a New York City Hall spokesperson argued that “the insinuation that putting more money in the pockets of delivery workers undercuts affordability is absurd.”
“Delivery Workers are important members of our city’s economy, and deserve to be paid fairly – anything less is unacceptable,” the spokesperson added. “As Mayor Mamdani continues to stand up for everyday New Yorkers and actualize his ambitious agenda to make New York City truly livable for families. Affordability has been, and will continue to be, a guiding light.”
But DoorDash’s head of public policy for North America, John Horton, said that ensuring delivery-app workers “earn double what many first responders in the city make” is not a policy solution they believe will make New York City more affordable. Currently, a local fire technician and emergency medical services union in the city is in the midst of a public awareness campaign to raise their wages because they make less than delivery-app drivers at $18.94 per hour.
Delivery-app workers in New York City must be paid $21.44 per hour according to local worker protection mandates. (iStock)
“A thriving New York will take a partnership between elected officials, the business community and workers to ensure we are all working in the best interests of New Yorkers in the midst of the city’s affordability crisis,” Horton added.
Fox News Digital followed up with Mamdani’s campaign to inquire about the complaint that EMS and some firemen in the city are making less than delivery-app workers, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Friday, Jan. 16, marks the 16th day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.
The City has secured a $2.1 million settlement with a landlord responsible for 14 buildings across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, addressing more than 4,000 building code violations and allegations of tenant harassment.
The settlement, announced Friday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, comes shortly after it was finalized by a judge in early January and signals the city’s intention to use the case as a model for holding negligent landlords accountable.
The settlement covers multiple legal actions and requires the landlord to correct the hazardous conditions and comply with court-issued injunctions preventing further tenant harassment.
While negotiations and initial enforcement took place under the previous administration, city officials emphasized that the Mamdani administration will actively use such settlements to advance tenant protections and ensure safe, livable housing.
“Every tenant in New York City has a right to a safe and livable home, and our administration intends to use enforcement tools like these to deliver exactly that,” Mayor Mamdani said. “This settlement will provide relief for tenants who have long suffered from poor conditions and harassment, and demonstrates the type of accountability we will continue to pursue across the city.”
Queens Council Member Shekar Krishnan, whose district includes the highest concentration of affected properties in Jackson Heights, praised tenants, advocacy groups, and city enforcement.
Council member Shekar KrishnanPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell
“Every repair we’ve won leaves us with ten more to fight for — their buildings are revolving doors of neglect and major housing violations,” he said. “I’m thankful that Mayor Mamdani and [the Department of Housing Preservation and Development] HPD, on day 16 of the new era, are signaling a new approach to protecting tenants.”
Tenant Diana de la Pava, who has lived in one of the buildings for more than 13 years, detailed chronic elevator outages, mold, pests, and other unsafe conditions affecting elderly and disabled residents.
She described how broken elevators effectively trapped some residents and contributed to preventable health crises. “This is not a communication failure. It is a business model for A & E,” she said during the press conference.
A & E Realty responded with a statement saying it reached the settlement in collaboration with the city. The company noted that it has invested in rehabbing elevators, replacing boilers, and addressing longstanding violations across its portfolio, and added that it is delivering on a repair plan agreed with HPD.
“We look forward to partnering with the City to improve the lives of our residents and continue investing in New York City’s housing stock,” a spokesperson said.
Incoming Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
HPD officials highlighted that the settlement represents the largest in the Anti-Harassment Unit’s history.
Over the course of litigation, more than 1,000 violations have already been corrected, with nearly $500,000 in additional emergency repairs made. The city stressed that its enforcement tools include civil contempt motions, emergency repairs, and injunctions to prevent tenant harassment, demonstrating a proactive approach to holding landlords accountable.
The Mamdani administration plans to use this case as a template for future enforcement actions, including upcoming “rental rip-off” hearings in all five boroughs within the first 100 days. The hearings are designed to give tenants a direct voice in shaping housing policy, tracking violations, and ensuring landlords are held accountable in real time.
Incoming Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy said, “By holding bad actors accountable, we are making it clear that no landlord will escape the consequences of violating the Housing Maintenance Code. Tenants should not have to fight day in and day out for basic services — these are fundamental rights.”
Budget: Trash trucks to tax hikes
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
As new sanitation workers were sworn in on Friday, Mayor Mamdani praised the municipal workforce for keeping New York running through long hours, extreme weather, and often unseen work — a reminder of the city’s reliance on essential services even as officials confront mounting fiscal pressures.
“New York City cannot function without the work that each of you will be doing,” Mamdani told graduates and their families gathered in One Police Plaza. He called sanitation workers “unsung heroes” whose efforts maintain core services day in and day out, from snow removal to street cleaning.
“You have something that few others hold, whether in the city or in this world, a noble purpose. It is the purpose of restoring dignity to the lives of your neighbors, the purpose of making New York new, “Mamdani said, before paying tribute to Brian Dunn, who passed away due to a medical emergency while on duty in the Bronx on Jan. 7.
The graduation ceremony was led by interim Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan, who served under former mayor Eric Adams and was retained by Mamdani to oversee the department through the winter, ensuring continuity of essential services as new workers join the ranks.
“This wasn’t caused by a bad economy — it’s the result of budgeting decisions from the previous administration that we must now deal with,” Levine said.
Responding to Levine’s assessment in a statement and during a press briefing later in the day, Mamdani agreed the city faces a serious fiscal challenge, while placing responsibility on both his predecessor and state leadership of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He cited what he described as fiscal mismanagement by the prior administration and a long-standing imbalance in the city’s financial relationship with the state, arguing that New York City contributes a disproportionate share of state tax revenue in return for what it receives.
“We cannot have it such that a New Yorker would go to sleep on a Friday and wonder if on a Saturday their basic services will be in doubt,” Mamdani said at a press conference in Queens, saying he had inheritied a City Hall from Adams that “exhibited incredible fiscal mismanagement, but also a decades long effort from former Governor Cuomo to pilfer from city coffers at each and every turn.”
“And what that has left this city with is, as described by the comptroller, not only a fiscal hole, but frankly, a relationship between city and state, where the city contributes 54.5% of the state’s tax revenues, but only receives. 40.5% in return,” he continued.
Mamdani said his administration would press Albany to address this imbalance as budget negotiations move forward. To help close projected gaps and fund major policy initiatives, he has proposed raising taxes, backing an increase in the state’s corporate tax rate for large companies to 11.5%, up from 7.25%, and additional income taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has ruled out raising taxes on high-income earners in this year’s state budget, though she has left open the possibility of changes to corporate income taxes. She did not propose any tax increases in her State of the State address earlier this week.
“Replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism!” says my new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
Sounds so nice.
No more greedy capitalists hoarding wealth. People share. It’s the socialist dream.
What will replace capitalism and individualism? One model is the commune—that socialist system where people share, rather than greedily chasing money.
In my new video, TikTokers claim capitalism is “ending.” They sing about the beauty of communes. One asks, desperately, “Where is my commune?!”
Good question. They’re hard to find because they keep failing.
One of the most famous was founded in 1825 in New Harmony, Indiana. Private property was banned and residents shared everything.
The result?
After just two years, most residents left.
Today, New Harmony is a tourist attraction, meant to “inspire progressive thought,” says the assistant director of the expensively renovated site. “It just has some magic here.”
But New Harmony’s magic only exists today because a nepo baby poured her rich father’s money into it. Robert Blaffer started Humble Oil, which became ExxonMobil. After his death, his daughter spent millions of her father’s dollars turning the failed commune into an expensive museum.
The “magic” tourists experience in New Harmony comes from capitalism, the only system that creates lasting wealth.
The “warmth of collectivism” fails again and again.
It’s failing now in Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
It was tried and abandoned in the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, the Congo, Somalia, Grenada, and Cambodia.
Even China and Vietnam’s leaders, to allow their countries to prosper, felt they had to give up pure socialism and allow private property and capitalism.
But my new mayor still wants to give “the warm of collectivism” a shot.
If he were my age, he would have been a hippie. Hippie communes were popular then.
One in Tennessee called The Farm forbade members to have their own money or property. Everyone shared everything.
“Mothers would nurse each other’s babies—other parents would take care of you,” said a former member.
“If you want to become a member of the community,” warned The Farm’s lawyer, “you got to put everything you have in the pot. We’re doing this for a lifetime!”
But they couldn’t do it for a lifetime. They couldn’t even keep it for a dozen years.
There just wasn’t enough money, says the commune’s bookkeeper: “Everybody was saying…there’s not enough food, not enough vegetables, not enough diapers, shoes. All things the children needed.”
Only when the commune allowed members to own things, and keep profit from their labor, was The Farm able to survive.
Residents now say, “We’re not socialists anymore. We have our own money.”
New York’s Oneida Community was founded as a free-love, socialist commune, where “every man in the community was essentially married to every woman and all the property was shared.”
But Oneida survives today only because they dropped socialism and became capitalists, selling expensive Oneida silverware.
Likewise, an Iowa commune, Amana Colonies, survives because they abandoned socialism to sell appliances.
Some Americans (falsely) think Israeli communes, Kibbutzim, succeeded. But they mostly failed, despite getting heavy taxpayer subsidies. Why?
Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute explains, “People envied one another…and treated one another really, really bad. It’s obvious why. Some people worked hard. Others didn’t. Yet they had exactly the same.”
The surviving few Kibbutzim are capitalist. Members own property and earn their own money.
The “warmth of collectivism” doesn’t last.
But socialists never admit that their communes fail.
“Because to them it’s a moral ideal,” says Brook. “Moral striving for the good, even though it’s a complete disaster and a complete failure everywhere and anywhere it is tried.”
No matter what my new mayor and other “progressives” say, the only thing that works—the only thing that really makes life better for people—is private ownership and capitalism.
New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacted to pro-Hamas chants bellowed at a Thursday night protest in Queens, saying in part the following day that demonstrations in support of “a terrorist organization have no place in our city.”
Newsweek reached out to the mayor’s office via email on Friday night for comment.
Why It Matters
A protest outside a Queens synagogue drew national attention after pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted in support of Hamas and pro-Israel counter-demonstrators responded with slurs and threats, The New York Times reports. The clash, which occurred in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood—home to a significant Orthodox Jewish community—prompted widespread condemnation.
The rhetoric at the protest has reignited debate over rising antisemitism, public safety and the responsibility of political leaders to condemn hate speech.
What To Know
The demonstration unfolded Thursday night during an event promoting American real estate investment in Jerusalem. Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted in support of Hamas, saying, “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here,” while counterprotesters shouted racial and homophobic slurs, per the Times.
When asked by reporters about the protest chants on Friday, Mamdani said, “the rhetoric and displays that we saw” at the protest “are wrong and have no place in our city,” the Times reports.
“My team is in close touch with the N.Y.P.D. [New York City Police Department] regarding last night’s protest and counterprotest,” Mamdani added in a statement to the news outlet. “We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.”
The publication says the statement was sent “hours after he made similar remarks at an event shortly after noon.”
Taking to X on Friday evening, Mamdani reiterated his condemnation of the pro-Hamas outcry, saying, “As I said earlier today, chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city. We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.”
Mamdani also faced some backlash on social media for the timing of his remarks.
New York State Democratic Assemblymember Sam Berger said on X Friday morning, “Still waiting on condemnation of support for Hamas at a protest in a Jewish neighborhood from @NYCMayor“
X account Israel War Room also said on Friday morning, “Terror supporters in NYC explicitly chanted their allegiance to Hamas, the genocidal, anti-American terror group. Leaders must universally condemn this disgusting support for terrorists who want to annihilate Jews worldwide. We await your condemnation, Mayor Mamdani @NYCMayor.”
Adam Carlson, founding partner of Zenith Research polling, said on X Friday: “I am a vocal & passionate support [sic] of Mamdani’s But I’ve waited patiently all day for him to forcefully condemn Hamas — watching dozens of other city & state electeds do so — and am still waiting This is not only hurtful to me, but it’s bad politics & distracts from his agenda”
What People Are Saying
Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul, on X Friday morning: “Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for the genocide of Jews. No matter your political beliefs, this type of rhetoric is disgusting, it’s dangerous, and it has no place in New York.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, on X Friday: “Hamas is a terrorist organization. We do not support terrorists. Period.”
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, on X Friday: “Let’s be clear: Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Jews while imposing its brutal rule on Palestinians. Chanting support for Hamas is antisemitic and unacceptable. This hate must have no place in NYC, in the U.S. or around the world, and must be loudly condemned.”
X account StopAntisemitism, on Friday: “NYC Mayor Mamdani’s office granted Hamas supporters a permit to riot extremely close to a Jewish Day School last night. Listen as they scream ‘we support Hamas’ and ‘Long Live October 7th’. Ready to leave NYC? DM us to be connected to a robust database of realtors all over the U.S.”
What Happens Next
As public debate continues over the boundaries between political protest and prohibited hate speech, officials indicated a commitment to ensuring New York remains a safe and inclusive city for all residents and communities.
Valdez was the overwhelming winner of the District 37 race in June 2024
via Instagram @claireforqueens
Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist representing parts of Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Long Island City in the State Assembly, has launched a campaign for U.S. Rep Nydia Velázquez’s soon-to-be-vacant seat in Congress.
Valdez, a member of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who has represented the 37th Assembly District since early 2025, announced her campaign to replace Velázquez early Thursday morning and is widely expected to pick up the DSA nomination in the race.
Velázquez announced in November that she would not be seeking re-election for New York’s 7th Congressional District having served 16 terms in Congress. A trailblazer who became the first Puerto Rican woman to ever serve in Congress, Velázquez represents one of the most left-leaning districts in the entire city, including parts of North Brooklyn and Western Queens.
A DSA candidate had long been expected to announce a run for the seat, with Valdez and Astoria Council Member Tiffany Cabán both reportedly expressing interest in running for a district that broke for Mayor Zohran Mamdani by 51% last year.
Announcing her candidacy on Thursday morning, Valdez said her campaign was rooted in “labor organizing, economic justice and opposition to war and genocide.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a progressive but more traditional Democratic candidate, had already launched a campaign to replace Velázquez in Congress. Both Reynoso and Valdez share a number of similarities; both are prominent labor organizers and both have described Israel’s actions as a genocide.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso speaks at a rally in support of Amazon workers in Woodside in December. Valdez was also present at the event. Photo by Shane O’Brien
A former City Council Member, Reynoso boasts more than a decade of government experience, while Valdez has little government experience but is ideologically aligned with the DSA. She is also a staunch Mamdani ally, giving a rousing speech at a campaign event in Forest Hills Stadium last October where she proclaimed the importance of the DSA movement in combating wealth inequality in the city.
“Zohran didn’t come out of nowhere,” she said last October. “He came out of our movement, our movement that has been fighting for workers and tenants and immigrants and our trans siblings, our movement that believes that, in the richest country this world has ever seen, no one should go without housing and health care.”
Launching her campaign on Thursday, Valdez said there was little question that Democrats would win a majority in the 7th Congressional District but said questions remain over what they “do with it.”
“We need a labor organizer in Washington who will turn Democratic power into a real opposition—one that confronts oligarchy and fascism, opposes genocide and war, and offers a real economic agenda that empowers working people and expands social rights,” Valdez said in a statement announcing her run for Congress.
Valdez grew up in Lubbock, Texas, before moving to New York in 2015 where she became an administrative assistant at Columbia University. There, she became a union organizer with United Auto Workers Local 2110 and was elected to the union’s bargaining committee.
She pointed to a career of low-wage customer service jobs before entering politics and said the labor movement had drawn her to politics rather than the “party machine” or “career ambition.”
Valdez has outlined “Union for All, Housing for All and Medicaid for All” as three central components of her congressional campaign, pledging to pay for the progressive platform by raising taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.
She has also pledged to eschew donations from corporate PACs during the campaign, stating that her campaign will be “powered exclusively” by small donors and grassroots volunteers.
Valdez, meanwhile, has tapped a number of political aides who advised Mamdani during his successful mayoral campaign, including Mamdani’s closest political advisor Morris Katz and former communications director Andrew Epstein.
She was the only elected official to appear at a launch event for Mamdani’s then-long-shot mayoral campaign, and the New York Times has reported that the Mayor has encourged Valdez to run for the soon-to-be-vacant seat.
Valdez is expected to pick up the DSA nomination when the organization begins considering a formal endorsement next month, which could prove significant in a congressional district with more DSA members than any other.
On the other hand, Reynoso has picked up endorsements from a number of City Council Members, including Shekar Krishnan, Jen Gutierrez and Sandy Nurse. He is also expected to pick up an endorsement from Velázquez, according to multiple reports.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani came out swinging against “bad landlords” shortly after taking office.
The new mayor’s first actions included naming a frequent adversary of city landlords to an office dedicated to tenant rights. He also announced that the city will “intervene” in a bankruptcy case that will decide the fate of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments.
During Mamdani’s first 100 days in office, the administration will host hearings for tenants to sound off about their landlords and living conditions, dubbed “Rental Ripoff” hearings.
These actions underscore a point the mayor made during his inauguration address, that he will not moderate or scale back on pledges he made while campaigning for mayor. He reiterated his promise to freeze rents and to “take on the bad landlords who mistreat their tenants.”
“I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist,” he said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
Real estate professionals are closely watching the first days of the administration unfold. Seth Glasser, a multifamily broker with Marcus & Millichap, wasn’t surprised by Mamdani’s first moves as mayor.
“We didn’t just wake up today and think ‘this guy doesn’t like landlords,’” he said.
He noted that the city’s involvement in Pinnacle Group’s bankruptcy case could create uncertainty around how the government will intervene in private deals going forward, which could scare away investors and lenders.
“The one thing you can’t underwrite is government intervention,” he said.
On his first day in office, Mamdani signed three housing-related executive orders. One relaunched the defunct Office to Protect Tenants, giving it a more specific mandate than its predecessor to “promote tenants’ interests and concerns” and develop “policy changes to strengthen tenants’ rights.” The order also leaves the door open for the mayor to assign the office more responsibility.
He named tenant organizer Cea Weaver as the director of the Office to Protect Tenants. Weaver, who heads tenant advocacy groups Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc and was a policy advisor to Mamdani during his campaign, played a major role in the passage of the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which closed off most ways that landlords can increase rents on stabilized apartments.
Joanne Grell, a rent-stabilized tenant and co-chair of the NYS Tenant Bloc’s rent freeze campaign, said in a statement that Weaver’s appointment “makes clear that Mayor Mamdani is serious about following through on his commitment to protect tenants.”
One of the office’s first actions was to intervene in Pinnacle Group’s bankruptcy and the Jan. 8 auction that would transfer 5,100 rent-stabilized apartments in the owner’s portfolio. As of Monday, the city hasn’t filed anything in federal court, but Weaver told the New York Times that the goal is to ensure that the new owner pursues repairs and complies with rent-stabilization laws.
Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association, said he is not against the city helping Pinnacle’s tenants organize to buy the building, but doing so would cost millions of dollars. He also said taking such action should come with the recognition that there are many other rent-stabilized buildings in similar situations and that broader action is needed to help struggling owners.
The mayor signed an executive order directing the Office to Protect Tenants, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to host “Rental Ripoff” hearings. The hearings will focus on “illegal, unfair, abusive, deceptive, or unconscionable landlord practices” as well as “operational improvements that the City should adopt to strengthen housing and building code enforcement.”
The order indicates that the city wants to hear from landlords in addition to tenants, tenant advocacy groups and others.
“I want New Yorkers who have long been ignored by their landlords to finally be heard by our city government,” Mamdani said during a press conference announcing the hearings, noting that the hearings won’t simply be “listening sessions” but will help shape policy.
Within 90 days of the final hearing, the city agencies must issue a report detailing common issues raised and a plan for addressing them.
Burgos described the hearings as “performative” and in service of justifying the mayor’s campaign promises.
“He’s clearly trying to build a narrative for a rent freeze,” he said. “The data is not going to support a rent freeze, and he knows that, so he needs to create a public campaign of vibes instead of real numbers.”
Mamdani also signed orders that continued initiatives started under the Adams administration. One such order creates a task force to study ways to speed up affordable housing construction, similar to the goals of one launched by the Adams administration. Another task force will identify city-owned or controlled sites where housing can be built. Adams issued a similar order in 2024.
Read more
Mamdani’s “rental ripoff” hearings to let tenants air grievances
Adams appointee backs out of Rent Guidelines Board
In the February/March 2026 issue of Reason, we explore Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s policy goals and what they mean for New York City. Click here to read the other entries.
Central to Zohran Mamdani’s 2020 campaign for New York State Assembly was a pitch to radically constrain law enforcement. “Queer liberation means defund the police,” he posted two days after securing his seat representing Astoria, an apt coda to that election season.
It was November 2020, just months after the George Floyd protests began—a time when calls to defund the police were more common. Such a plan was arguably always a tougher sell in a mayoral campaign where candidates have to court a more politically diverse electorate than the one in western Queens, a district that overlaps with that of the socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.).
Which helps explain why Mamdani pivoted fairly dramatically on criminal justice in his run to be mayor of America’s most populous city. “I am not defunding the police,” he said on the campaign trail. “I am not running to defund the police.” One way he has tried to show he is serious about that promise: asking Jessica Tisch, who was an ally of Mayor Eric Adams, to stay on as New York City police commissioner.
That type of law enforcement partnership would have been difficult to imagine with the Mamdani who made his political debut just over five years ago. What might their differences mean for New York City?
On one hand, not much. A great deal has been made, for example, of Mamdani and Tisch diverging considerably on New York’s state bail law, which bars judges from contemplating a defendant’s dangerousness when making decisions about bond. It is the only state with that ban. While Tisch’s skepticism of that policy has merit—nearby New Jersey successfully eliminated cash bail in 2017 but did so in favor of a risk-based system—neither she nor Mamdani has the power to alter the legislation.
The same goes for their disagreements on New York’s Raise the Age law, which diverted most 16- and 17-year-old alleged offenders out of adult court. Mamdani likes the law; Tisch is against it. That debate is important, but it ultimately rests with state legislators.
Other differences are more consequential, or at least have potential to be. Currently, the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) can recommend disciplinary action after investigating allegations of misconduct at the New York Police Department (NYPD). The final say, however, belongs to the commissioner—something Mamdani campaigned on revoking.
The dispute over where that power should reside reached a fever pitch this summer, right in the heat of the New York mayoral campaign, when Tisch rejected a CCRB finding that an officer should be fired in connection with a fatal 2019 shooting. In that case, Lt. Jonathan Rivera inserted himself into a vehicle as a suspect, Allan Feliz, attempted to drive away from a traffic stop. When the car sped forward, Rivera shot Feliz in the chest.
At trial, a judge did not buy Rivera’s testimony that he feared Feliz was poised to run over his colleague, Officer Edward Barrett. Tisch instead cited a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who wrote that Rivera had “a reasonable perception—or at least not an obviously unreasonable one” that deadly force was justified. (James declined to prosecute Rivera in criminal court.)
Whatever you think of Tisch’s decision, her record on law enforcement misconduct may surprise those whose impression was formed solely by the headlines about Rivera. “Not only has Tisch signaled a greater willingness to discipline officers more frequently” than her predecessors, reportedGothamist last year, but “she’s also imposing tougher penalties.” And despite Mamdani’s campaign emphasis on depriving the commissioner of veto power over officer discipline, he praised Tisch’s efforts to “root out corruption” as something that united the two.
They are decidedly not united on how many NYPD officers there should be and, in some sense, on what they should be doing. Tisch expressed support for Adams’ plan to add 5,000 officers to the force, which has decreased in recent years, whereas Mamdani wants to keep the current head count.
Perhaps more notable are their differing enforcement priorities. A hallmark of Tisch’s tenure has been her focus on low-level offenses—including open drug use, prostitution, and fare evasion—to crack down on public disorder. “When neighborhoods are plagued by issues such as aggressive panhandling, unruly street vending, public urination, abandoned vehicles, it gives the impression of an unsafe community,” she said in January 2025. The NYPD has credited that strategy, often referred to as broken windows policing, with the city’s recent crime decline.
Mamdani also prefers a prevention-oriented approach, but it bears no resemblance to Tisch’s. He has said that police officers should be free to target major crimes. To accomplish that, he campaigned on creating a Department of Community Safety, with a budget over $1 billion, that would seek to address poverty and inequality; it would also divert lower-level calls to mental health specialists and social workers. While focusing police resources on serious offenses is an appealing idea, it’s worth noting that New York City already has a hefty social safety net.
Which ideological vision for the NYPD will win out will become clearer with time. Shortly after announcing Tisch would stay on, Mamdani unveiled his public safety transition team. Among others, it includes Alex Vitale, a sociologist who has argued we should abolish police.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline “Will Mamdani Defund the Police?.”
This afternoon, Zohran Mamdaniwas sworn in as New York City’s youngest mayor “in generations,” to quote Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s opening remarks at the ceremony. The 34-year-old is also the first South Asian and Muslim to take on the role, which he underscored by taking his oath with two family Qurans during both of his swearing-ins, one held privately at midnight on January 1 and a second, public one held in the afternoon at City Hall Plaza.
In his inaugural speech, Mamdani vowed to govern “expansively and audaciously,” and said that New York will not be a city “governed only by the one percent,” or “a tale of two cities, the rich versus the poor.” He was sworn in by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who thanked New York City for electing Mamdani as mayor, and reminded the crowd that his ideas are “not radical.”
And yet, Mamdani and his First Lady, 28-year-old illustrator Rama Duwaji, have broken the political mold. Not solely because of Mamdani’s perhaps not radical but inarguably progressive ideas—to, say, tax the rich or enforce a rent freeze—but also because of their ages and backgrounds, which have been underscored repeatedly by the media as cause of celebration or with Islamophobic dismay.
Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents, and Duwaji in Texas to Syrian Muslim progenitors. They are young and progressive, and they also look the part. The balancing act moving forward, as it pertains to their style now that they’re embedded in the political establishment, will be to negotiate between the newfound gloss of their public image while keeping it consistent with their politics.
When Mamdani celebrated his election in November of 2025, Duwaji donned a top by London-based Palestinian-Jordanian designer Zeid Hijazi paired with a skirt by the New York-born and -based Ulla Johnson, who is known for her bohemian flair. She managed the task of looking both like a first lady and a 20-something woman dressing for a special occasion with aplomb. Back then, she had been advised—free of charge—by stylist Bailey Moon, who dresses the likes of Morgan Spector and Cristin Milioti and is most widely known for having worked with Jill Biden and her family throughout president Joe Biden’s administration.
Rama Duwaji and Zohran Mamdani on election night in November, 2025.
Sworn in at midnight and again hours later publicly, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his first day in office Thursday to hit the ground running with new executive orders targeting city landlords and housing development. And he said the city will take what he called “precedent-setting action” to intervene in a private landlord bankruptcy case he said was tied to 93 buildings.
“Today is the start of a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said. “It is inauguration day. It is also the day that the rent is due.”
Speaking at a Brooklyn apartment building, Mamdani framed the moves as an early test of whether city government will directly confront landlords over housing conditions and step into court cases that could determine whether tenants remain in their homes.
Mamdani said New Yorkers who attended his inauguration were returning to apartments where, he said, “bad landlords do not make repairs,” rents rise and residents deal with issues like cockroaches and a lack of heat.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces his first executive orders Thursday.(Fox News/Pool)
The mayor said the new administration “will not wait to deliver action” and “will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city.”
Mamdani announced three housing-related executive orders, starting with the revival of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which he said will focus on resolving complaints and holding landlords accountable for hazardous conditions.
“We will make sure that 311 violations are resolved,” Mamdani said, adding that the administration will hold “slumlords” accountable for “hazardous and dangerous threats” to tenant well-being.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his inaugural address Thursday outside City Hall.(Fox News/Pool)
Mamdani said the second executive order creates a LIFT task force, or a land-inventory effort designed to leverage city-owned land and accelerate housing development. He said the task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1.
The third executive order creates a SPEED task force, which Mamdani said stands for Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development. He said the task force will work to remove permitting barriers that slow housing construction.
Both task forces will be overseen by Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Lila Joseph, he said.
“These are sweeping measures, but it is just the beginning of a comprehensive effort to champion the cause of tenants,” Mamdani said.
Zohran Mamdani attends the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony Sept. 11, 2025, in New York City.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Earlier in the day, Mamdani signed executive order No. 1, which revoked all prior mayoral executive orders under former Mayor Eric Adams issued on or after Sept. 26, 2024, unless they were specifically reissued by Mamdani’s administration.
Mamdani signed a second executive order setting the structure of his administration, including five deputy mayors and their oversight responsibilities.
The mayor made the announcement at 85 Clarkson Ave., a rent-stabilized building he said is owned by Pinnacle Realty, which he described as a “notorious landlord.”
Mamdani said tenants in the building have dealt with issues, including roaches and a lack of heat.
Mamdani said the building is one of 93 properties connect to the same landlord, and the portfolio is in bankruptcy proceedings.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani raises his right hand during his swearing-in ceremony at Old City Hall Station early Thursday.(Amir Hamja/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The mayor said the buildings will be auctioned to a different landlord he claimed ranks No. 6 on New York City’s worst landlord list, adding the buildings collectively have more than 5,000 open hazardous violations and 14,000 complaints.
“This is an untenable situation,” Mamdani said. “So, today we are announcing that we will be taking action in the bankruptcy case and stepping in to represent the interests of the city and the interests of the tenants.”
Mamdani said he directed his nominee for corporation counsel, Steve Banks, to take what he called “precedent-setting action” in the case.
“We are a creditor and interested party,” Mamdani said, adding that the city is owed money and will fight for “safe and habitable homes” while working to “mitigate the significant risk of displacement” that tenants face.
A tenant speaker at the event described unsafe conditions in Pinnacle buildings and said a section of hardwood floor in the speaker’s mother’s apartment had remained unrepaired for seven years.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani pictured signing three of his first five executive orders aimed at tackling the city’s housing crisis during a press conference at an apartment building in Brooklyn
Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
It’s Thursday, Jan. 1, the first day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.
After a rousing, populist inauguration speech Thursday afternoon in which New York City’s new mayor promised to rule “audaciously” for all New Yorkers while remaining true to his democratic socialist roots, Zohran Mamdani moved decisively to mark a new era in city governance.
Upon officially becoming mayor at midnight, Mamdani wasted no time in appointing Mike Flynn as his Department of Transportation commissioner. With the celebration of inauguration behind him Thursday evening, Mamdani stayed on the job — reviving a mothballed office focused on tenants’ rights and appointing someone to lead it; reorganizing and formalizing his leadership team’s responsibilities; and creating two new task forces aimed at making housing more affordable citywide.
Mamdani also revoked a series of executive orders issued by former Mayor Eric Adams after Sept. 26, 2024 – the date he was federally indicted.
Those revoked orders from the past 16 months that former Mayor Adams issued include barring city officials and appointees from discriminating against Israel, which many saw as a way to “Mamdani-proof” city investments from any potential revocation from the new mayor, who has been highly critical of the Israeli government and previously supported the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement. After Adams signed that executive order in early December, Mamdani said he would review “every single one” of his predecessor’s directives, signaling that reversals were likely once he entered City Hall.
Another now-revoked order directed Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to evaluate proposals for regulating protests near houses of worship. A separate September order directing city agencies to prepare for a 2026 phaseout of the horse carriage industry was also nullified, though the City Council would have needed to pass legislation for that transition to occur
Mamdani’s executive order preserved orders that Adams signed prior to Sept. 26, 2024, that were still in effect at the end of Adams’ term – including one order that established the Office to Combat Antisemitism.
Mamdani also signed four new orders focused on reorganizing the mayor’s senior leadership team, revitalizing the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, and launching two new task forces designed to expedite housing construction and reduce bureaucratic delays.
“Today marks the first step in building an administration that works for all New Yorkers,” Mamdani said in a statement. “We’ve established the foundations of it, and now it’s time to deliver on our affordability agenda, tackle the challenges facing New Yorkers, and usher in a new era for New York City — one that proves that government can deliver for working people.”
Affordability: Mamdani revitalizes Office to Protect Tenants
Mayor Mamdani appointed Cea Weaver, a nationally recognized tenant organizer and housing advocate, to lead the office during a press conference at a Pinnacle Realty–owned building in Brooklyn as the mayor announced the city would intervene in the landlord’s bankruptcy proceedings.
The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which will serve as a central coordinating body to defend tenants’ rights, confront negligent landlords, and push city agencies to act more quickly on unsafe or illegal housing conditions.
The Mamdani administration stated that Pinnacle has been cited for thousands of housing violations and complaints across dozens of buildings. City officials the city is seeking immediate relief to improve conditions and reduce the risk of tenant displacement, an intervention Mamdani described as an unprecedented step on behalf of renters.
Mamdani pictured touring the Pinnacle Realty owned apartment buildingPhoto by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
In addition to the tenant office overhaul, Mamdani signed executive orders creating two housing-focused task forces. The LIFT Task Force — short for Land Inventory Fast Track — will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development by July 1, 2026. The SPEED Task Force, or Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development, will work to identify and remove permitting and bureaucratic barriers that slow construction and delay lease-ups.
Both task forces will be overseen by Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg, with the SPEED Task Force also co-led by Deputy Mayor of Operations Julia Kerson.
Governing: Mamdani resets City Hall operations
Mamdani also used his first day to reset City Hall’s internal operations, establishing the structure of the new administration, formalizing the five deputy mayors’ roles and appointing senior leadership, including Dean Fuleihan as the first deputy mayor and Julia Su as deputy mayor of economic justice.
One executive order revoked all prior mayoral executive orders issued on or after Sept. 26, 2024 — the day then-Mayor Adams was officially indicted on federal fraud charges for alleged campaign finance fraud. Adams vehemently denied the charges and alleged they were politically motivated because of his criticism of then-President Biden over his migrant policy.
Mamdani said the orders issued after the date of Adams’ indictment “time and time again come up against the interests of working-class people and what they need from their mayor,” but emphasized that essential offices, including the Office to Combat Antisemitism, would be retained, with the administration committed to “not only protecting Jewish New Yorkers, but to celebrate and cherish them.”
When asked about why he chose the date that Adams federally indicted, Mamdani said the date “marked a moment when many New Yorkers decided that politics held nothing for them but more of the same,” and that his administration is “showcasing…how we will stand alongside the New Yorkers who have been left behind, but also the structures we will create such that New Yorkers…can know the truth of that commitment.”
Probably the most important member of that group was New York state governor Kathy Hochul. Hochul, a centrist who is up for reelection this year, strongly encouraged Mamdani to retain the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch; when he agreed, Hochul saw it as a sign of Mamdani’s pragmatism on fighting crime and of his desire to reach out to political moderates.
The governor is highly interested in finding common ground with Mamdani on his push for universal day care. How to pay the multi-billion-dollar tab for such a plan, though, will be the tricky part, and may be where her differences with Mamdani come to a head. “We will deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few!” the mayor declared in his speech, drawing one of his biggest ovations. Hochul, though, has repeatedly taken a hard line against raising personal income taxes. “The last thing she wants to do is raise taxes on anybody. And we do tax the rich already,” a Hochul insider told me in advance of Mamdani’s inauguration. “It doesn’t mean that there’s not room for an ongoing conversation.”
Mamdani intends to raise the volume of that conversation by incorporating the voices of the people who were standing on Broadway today. He has spoken with Barack Obama about how the former president’s “Obama for America” organization did not translate campaign momentum into governing momentum. Mamdani doesn’t plan to make the same mistake, and a key ally is already on the case. The Democratic Socialists of America were crucial to Mamdani’s upset campaign win, organizing a door-knocking army of nearly 100,000 volunteers. “We’re mounting a massive campaign to raise revenue,” says Grace Mausser, a co-chair of DSA’s New York City chapter. “One of the days it snowed pretty heavily in December, we knocked on 15,000 doors. We’re asking them to call their legislators, their assembly members, and their state senators and tell them that they want to tax the rich to fund child-care.”
There was speculation about whether Mamdani would live in Gracie Mansion after he told reporters he was undecided about his future residence.
Mamdani eventually confirmed he and his wife would leave their apartment in Astoria and move into the official residence of New York City’s mayor.
“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” Mamdani said in a statement on Dec. 8.
The exterior of Gracie Mansion in New York City.
Seth Wenig / AP
Gracie Mansion was built in 1799 and has housed the city’s mayors since the 1940s. It’s located on East End Avenue and 88th Street in Manhattan’s Yorkville neighborhood, overlooking the East River.
Inauguration ceremony rundown
Some 4,000 ticketed guests will attend the City Hall inauguration ceremonies. Thousands more will be able to take in the festivities at the block party.
How to watch: Stream live coverage on CBS News New York at noon and 1 p.m.
Inauguration ceremony: Starts at 1 p.m. on the steps of New York City Hall.
Here’s a rundown of the ceremony:
Presentation of colors and national anthem performed by Javier Muñoz
Welcoming address by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Invocation by Imam Khalid Latif
Musical performance by Mandy Patinkin and the P.S. 22 Chorus of Staten Island
Comptroller Mark Levine is sworn in
Poetry reading by Cornelius Eady
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is sworn in
Musical performance by Lucy Dacus
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is sworn in by Sen. Bernie Sanders and delivers his inaugural address
Musical performance by Babbulicious
Mamdani sworn in during private ceremony
Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City in a private midnight ceremony that was layered in symbolism.
Mamdani took his oath on a Quran rather than a Bible at the Old City Hall subway station, setting the tone for a historic new chapter in New York City leadership.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said as he officially became the 112th mayor.
Mamdani said he chose to be sworn in on the historic Quran to honor the deep roots of Muslim communities in the city.
Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor by New York Attorney General Letitia James, left, alongside his wife Rama Duwaji, right, in the former City Hall subway station on Jan. 1, 2026.
Amir Hamja-Pool / Getty Images / Amir Hamja for The New York Times
“A testament to the importance of public transit, to the vitality, the health, and the legacy of our city,” Mamdani said.
Using the moment to underscore his transportation agenda, he also announced Michael Flynn as his Department of Transportation commissioner.
“Someone who’s experienced, who is fluent in the landscape as it is, and who is ambitious and imaginative towards the landscape as it could be. And I can think of no better person than the man alongside me,” Mamdani said.
The Mamdani administration
Here’s a list of key officials Mamdani has appointed to help run New York City:
Inauguration block party
Mamdani announced the “Inauguration of a New Era” block party in the Canyon of Heroes, the stretch of Broadway in Lower Manhattan that’s famous for ticker-tape parades.
Mamdani’s team anticipates tens of thousands of people will be able to attend the festivities on Broadway, from Liberty Street to Murray Street.
CBS News New York
The block party is accompanying the inauguration ceremony, with music, performances and interfaith elements, according to the mayor’s team.
Mamdani said security will be tight at City Hall Plaza and along the block party route throughout the inauguration.
How Mamdani won
Zohran Mamdani won the 2025 New York City mayor’s race with just over 50% of the vote in the November general election. He defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who won about 41% of the vote as an independent — and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani’s campaign centered around the cost of living energized a coalition of young and progressive voters, even with some critics questioning his experience and raising concerns about his views on Israel, which Cuomo’s campaign zeroed in on.
Mamdani’s affordability agenda, including a rent freeze and universal child care, first propelled him to victory in the Democratic primary, when he soundly defeated Cuomo for the party’s nomination.
