Landlord Impact Analysis: NYC Mayoral Candidates’ Housing Platforms (2025)

May 19, 2025

Summary

New York City’s 2025 mayoral contenders present sharply different housing agendas with major implications for landlords. Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani is running on an unabashedly tenant-first platform that alarms property owners. He pledges a multi-year rent freeze on all rent-stabilized units, expansion of rent regulations to newly built buildings, and massive public housing investment instead of developer tax breaks. His approach would significantly constrain landlords' ability to raise rents or profit from private development, and he would rely on public funds to finance repairs and construction. By contrast, former Governor Andrew Cuomo is a moderate who values tenant protections and landlord viability. Cuomo touts his role in enacting the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (the rent law of rent laws) but argues that some provisions should be revisited to ensure buildings remain habitable, which is a clear signal he’d consider restoring landlords’ ability to recoup capital improvement costs. He dismisses opponents’ rent-freeze promises as “politically convenient” posturing and vows to appoint Rent Guidelines Board members who follow data and balance tenant hardship with owners’ “financial realities”. Based on these realities, the real estate industry is coalescing around Cuomo, painting him as the candidate least likely to further tighten regulations.

In between these poles, NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and City Comptroller Brad Lander offer progressive yet somewhat pragmatic visions. Adams helped shepherd pro-housing zoning reforms like the City of Yes framework, and she emphasizes incentives and rezonings to spur deeply affordable development. She supports rent stabilization and "improvements that help increase housing security," but has not championed radical changes like Mamdani. She supports “funding and policies that incentivize rehabilitation and restoration of rehab vacant units”. Landlords can expect Adams to maintain a balancing act that includes occasional rent freezes (which she supports for 2025) and collaboration on new housing construction and tax-abatement programs with private developers. Lander is a longtime housing advocate firmly on the tenants' side who supports rent stabilization laws. He boasts of fighting “efforts of Andrew Cuomo and the [former] IDC to weaken” rent laws. Yet, he also has a record of working with nonprofit developers and backing some incentives to expand supply. As mayor, Lander would aggressively protect existing rent regulations and push for a tenant-friendly Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) to keep rent increases "as low as possible". However, unlike Mamdani, he's open to "high-impact" tools like the NYCHA Trust and the 485-x tax abatement to fund housing, provided public benefits are secured. Mamdani and Lander would tilt City Hall decidedly toward renters' interests. Meanwhile, Cuomo and, to a lesser extent, Adams would temper tenant gains with policies palatable to builders and landlords to grow the housing supply. The table below compares their specific stances on rent stabilization and the Rent Guidelines Board:

Source: Romain Sinclair’s NY Multifamily Newsletter Analysis

Disclaimer: This is not a political post. None of this should be taken to endorse or reject political parties or groups. This is intended as a purely analytical exercise to understand the economic consequences landlords may face based on the stated policy claims of prospective NYC mayoral candidates.

Divergent Futures for Landlords

Depending on who prevails, NYC landlords could face very different policy regimes. A Mayor Mamdani would usher in a tenant-centric revolution that many in real estate would view as hostile to their interests. He's openly aligned with the Democratic Socialists and tenant unions, and his rhetoric, Housing by and for New York, signals plans to freeze rents, expand regulations, and eliminate reliance on private developers. For landlords, that could mean four years (or more) of zero rent increases on stabilized units, tighter enforcement of maintenance with no corresponding rent relief, and the likely death of programs like 421-a/485-x, which Mamdani derides as developer giveaways. Mamdani proposes that the city borrows $100 billion to build and preserve affordable housing. Such a plan, while thrilling tenant advocates, raises feasibility questions. The state sets New York's debt cap, and Albany's approval of this measure is uncertain, as is funding this scale of investment without new revenue. The Citizens Budget Commission or NYC’s Independent Budget Office would almost certainly sound alarms about the fiscal strain of $10 billion per year (~3% increase) in housing capital outlays. Politically, Mamdani’s agenda would rely on Albany’s cooperation for measures like universal rent control or eliminating MCIs entirely and that’s a tall order given more moderate legislative leadership. His confrontational stance toward landlords suggests he might oppose measures like NY Senate Bill S6914, which lets landlords charge vouchers above legal rent, calling it a subsidy to property owners. Instead, we can imagine that he would push for increased voucher value within current rent caps and stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

In sharp contrast, an Andrew Cuomo mayoralty promises predictability and pragmatism that many landlords would welcome, albeit with wariness given ~~his campaign’s necessary nods to tenant pain~~ that he signed HSTPA (2019) into law. Cuomo’s housing platform emphasizes production and partnership. He champions a 500,000-unit building boom facilitated by upzoning, tax incentives, and converting unused land. He explicitly supports reviving property tax abatements like 485-x, arguing that developers won't build needed rental housing without such tools. This view aligns with research findings from NYU’s Furman Center, which noted that a tax exemption is “necessary to make rental housing development financially feasible” in NYC. Landlords can expect Cuomo to lobby Albany hard for tax policies, programs, and measures to spur new development and possibly adjust the 2019 rent law.

Cuomo is the only major candidate signaling his openness to loosening rent regulations. He suggests revisiting HSTPA’s limits on MCIs/IAIs so that owners can finance renovations and keep units habitable. This stance dovetails with landlord groups’ complaints (i.e. what I hear daily) that current law discourages capital improvements, and it hints that a Cuomo administration might support restoring larger rent increases for renovations or a more usable hardship mechanism. Likewise, Cuomo would likely support voucher reforms like S6914 as his campaign stresses increasing landlord participation in CityFHEPS and other voucher programs. Allowing landlords to collect the full voucher amount, even above the legal rent, could be one way to achieve that, and the bill’s design keeps apartments regulated and legal rents low for future tenants, a compromise Cuomo could sell as win-win. In short, Cuomo as mayor would tilt policy more favorably to landlords than his rivals: rent hikes determined by “facts, not politics” would likely outpace the near-freeze levels under Mayor de Blasio. It’s telling that NYC’s biggest real estate players have rallied to Cuomo’s side, viewing him as a bulwark against the left’s agenda.

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Political Realities and Outlook

Ultimately, each candidate’s ability to implement their agenda will depend on political feasibility. Mamdani’s transformative plans face the steepest hurdles, and he would likely need cooperation from Governor Hochul, or a similarly moderate governor if Hochul loses the upcoming gubernatorial election, to, for example, float $10 billion in municipal bonds annually or enact universal rent control. Albany’s history suggests skepticism toward NYC left initiatives, as was seen with the decision not to enact statewide Good Cause Eviction, despite democratic supermajorities in the Senate and State Assemblies. A Mamdani mayoralty could thus mean a stalemate where landlords and their Albany allies fight his proposals. That could mean tenants would get a champion in City Hall, but with limited ability to create legal changes beyond what the mayor’s office controls, such as RGB appointments.

On the other hand, Cuomo knows Albany intimately and could leverage those relationships to strike grand bargains (perhaps, a housing package that pairs an Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers (ANNY) 421-a revival with some tenant concessions?). Notwithstanding his signing of 2019’s HSTPA, Cuomo’s positive record with the real estate industry may draw skeptics from the City Council and militant tenant groups ready to protest any perceived giveaways to landlords. Because of this need to please tenants and landlords, Cuomo will likely support S6914 and similar landlord-friendly pilot programs, as long as they can be framed as helping house low-income tenants. Still, he may do so quietly to avoid inflaming the left. Landlords may witness Cuomo perform a calibrated dance, with incremental moves made to chip away at the strictest rent law provisions, encourage development, and grow the housing supply, all while Cuomo claims the mantle of “protector of tenants.” Based on his past and continued support of HSTPA’s core tenets, he is unlikely to attempt wholesale repeal of the law, just targeted adjustments.

For Lander and Adams, the execution of policy would involve coalition-building and likely more consensus with the City Council. Lander’s natural allies are the progressive council members and housing nonprofits – he could galvanize support for stronger tenant protections (e.g. certificate of no harassment expansion, stricter Airbnb enforcement, etc.) that don’t require Albany. However, to deliver on his ambitious housing construction goal (500,000 homes in a decade), Lander must work with developers and state officials for zoning and funding changes. This could moderate some of his stances: for instance, while he “will not forward-commit” to perpetual freezes, if inflation and costs stabilize, he may allow small RGB increases to avoid landlord backlash and legal challenges. As a consensus builder, Adams might have the smoothest time implementing her platform in the near term. She already led the Council to enact pieces of it (e.g., CityFHEPS reforms, Fair Housing Framework, City ~~of Yes~~ For All) and has working relationships with both housing advocates and industry stakeholders. Landlords might find an open door at City Hall with Adams – not to undo tenant laws, but to discuss practical issues like property tax reform (which she mentions needing to tackle) or reducing construction costs. Adams would likely oppose state bills that undermine rent stabilization (she's politically aligned with keeping tenants secure), but she also hasn't embraced new landlord penalties or burdens. This balanced posture means her policies could emerge as incremental and thus more achievable. With Adams in office, investors and landlords should expect continued capital spending around ~$4 billion a year on housing (she committed to at least that), partnerships with private and nonprofit developers to hit housing targets, and an RGB that mirrors her centrist leanings. For example, she could appoint a mix of tenant advocates and economists to the board, aiming for moderate rent adjustments that neither “squeeze” tenants nor starve building maintenance – a middle road likely to frustrate the extremes but provide stability for landlords planning long-term.

New York’s landlords should be paying close attention to the mayoral race because the direction and magnitude of rent regulations is at stake. A Mamdani win would herald a tenant movement in power bent on restructuring the landlord-tenant balance with significant cost to owners’ bottom lines. A Cuomo win would restore a landlord-friendly pragmatism not seen since Bloomberg's era, and a Lander or Adrienne Adams victory would chart a course in between, enforcing and fine-tuning the existing rent regime rather than upending it. Funny enough, each candidate has contradictions between campaign rhetoric and historical record. Cuomo claims to be supportive of landlords need to recreate MCI/IAIs, even though he is the one who had the power to moderate current MCI/IAI policy in 2019, Lander promises massive housing growth while vowing to “preserve every unit” of existing affordable housing (a delicate balancing act), Adams talks up bold goals but often lands on cautious policies, and Mamdani inspires with moral clarity yet faces doubts about practicality. The next mayor's housing platform will profoundly shape whether landlords see the next few years as an era of tightened regulation and lower profits or a renewed investment and collaboration.

Romain Sinclair's NY Multifamily Newsletter

Landlord Impact Analysis: NYC Mayoral Candidates’ Housing Platforms (2025)

Summary

Divergent Futures for Landlords

Political Realities and Outlook

Discussion about this post