POLITICS: Mamdani ‘rent ripoff’ showboating exposes his lack of real answers

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has opted to kick off his mayoralty with a grandiose housing initiative that . . . shows no sign of solving anything.

The plan is for a citywide “Rental Ripoff” tour, exposing buildings and apartments in awful shape and their owners’ “unconscionable business practices.”

Yet what’s the point of this sideshow? Everyone knows the city has some bad buildings run by neglectful landlords; how does a spotlight change the situation?

Mamdani campaigned on freezing the rent and building 200,000 units of “affordable housing,” not on staging small-ball multi-borough dog-and-pony shows to give the new mayor a chance to preen.

“Naming and shaming” slumlords is a perennial topic; we do it and the public advocate releases a yearly “Worst Landlord Watchlist.”

But actual large-scale improvement remains a matter of supply and demand — and facing the baneful impact of city and state overregulation.

Fact is, Mamdani “freeze the rent” drive is certain to worsen conditions in rent-stabilized units, since it’ll force landlords to defer maintenance when building incomes stay flat while costs rise for labor, energy, insurance and so on.

His new “tenant advocate,” Cea Weaver, is on the record welcoming that crisis because it can prepare the ground for the city to collectivize most housing — something the mayor’s bid to demonize landlords would surely help.

Yet, for all Mamdani blames predatory landlords for “ripping off” renters, the condition of the city’s own housing stock is as disgusting, if not worse.

Half of the New York City Housing Authority’s 180,000 units have mold, and almost all of those are “Large Mold Growths,” per the federal monitor overseeing NYCHA.

If the mayor is serious about making the city more affordable, he’ll have to get busy removing the restraints on expanding the supply of housing.

“Affordability” mandates, decarbonization requirements, outdated zoning and environmental-review laws all serve to discourage development.

Maybe Mamdani isn’t covertly pursuing Weaver’s plans for collectivized housing; maybe he secretly intends to exploit his predecessor’s “City of Yes” victories to unleash private-sector housing construction — but doesn’t dare let his Democratic Socialist base realize it.

Either way, his “Rental Ripoff” tour is just “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”