Transcript: Mayor Mamdani, HPD Announce Largest-Ever Penalty Against Negligent Bronx Landlords
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
Thank you, c an we have a round of applause for Charlene Banks? It is an honor to be in Morrisania alongside the advocates, city workers and tenants who worked so hard for this moment. And I want to acknowledge not only our tenant leader, Charlene Banks, but also Linda Kemp. And I want to thank our leaders from our city administration. We have our HPD commissioner, Dina Levy. We have our director of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants, Cea Weaver. And we also have our borough president here, Vanessa Gibson. I think that we will shortly be joined by Council Member Althea Stevens, as well as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Before I begin remarks, I do also want to give a real shout-out to Legal Aid and to Our Bronx for the work that all of you have been doing. Because it is a pleasure to stand alongside all of you. And I want you to know that what we speak about today is not possible unless the work that you have done has actually continued to be done. Now, we know that when Robert Fulton Terrace opened in 1967, the apartments were advertised to middle-income families as “luxury you can afford.” At the time, that was true. Sister buildings were part of the Mitchell-Lama housing initiatives that provided stability and security for thousands of families. Robert Fulton Terrace, where we are right now, included a playground, communal spaces like this one, 25 percent of units reserved for the elderly, all for a reasonable $29.30 monthly rental fee per room. For working families, these apartments offered a path to a life of dignity. This is what the American dream had felt like. But as the years wore on, the dream of luxury you can afford descended into a nightmare. The two buildings were sold to a series of speculators and soon fell into a pattern of disrepair and foreclosure. While irresponsible landlords lined their pockets, tenants in the buildings, nearly 500 units, paid the price. In a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society in 2024, tenants described going without hot water for days on end, forcing them to boil water just to bathe. Tenants described rat infestations [and] broken elevators that trapped them in 17-story towers. People went to sleep hungry because a trip to the grocery store to buy a carton of eggs or a gallon of milk required walking up and down hundreds of stairs. These conditions, to put it very simply, were inhumane. So, the New Yorkers who live here did what New Yorkers do when they are confronted by an injustice: they organized. They called for change. They fought for their right to a dignified life. And I'm very proud that two senior leaders from my administration that are here with us today, HPD Commissioner Levy and Director of the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants Weaver, organized alongside them. And that organizing made a difference, and one that we are here together today to mark. For today, we are announcing unprecedented action against the current landlords of Robert Fulton Terrace and Fordham Towers, Karan Singh and Rajmattie Persaud. After two years of litigation, HPD has secured $31 million in penalties, the largest civil penalty won in HPD history, all on behalf of the residents of these buildings. This is a long time coming. For years, Singh and Persaud let more than 1,000 violations accumulate while they collected rent month after month. They have over-leveraged this building and Fordham Towers multiple times. They are on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' list of worst landlords, and for good reason. That is why this court penalty includes the appointment of a chief restructuring officer, who is in charge and has already hired a property manager to ensure that repairs are actually made. We have negotiated that at least $900,000, for the chief restructuring officer, be put towards repairs immediately. These funds come directly from the landlords’ accounts, money that should have otherwise been allocated towards this work long ago. And we will not only make the urgent repairs that are needed today but also the long-term improvements that tenants deserve. We are calling on Fannie Mae to work with the city to secure a preservation buyer for these homes, one who will actually deliver on the investments and the improvements that tenants deserve. Because this is more than just a conversation around patchwork solutions to ensure that you can live from today to tomorrow. It's about shattering a cycle of abuse and neglect that has long defined not just these towers, but frankly affordable housing across our city. And as we look to tomorrow, we will ensure the end of this impunity is measured not merely in accountability for those landlords who have violated our city's housing laws but also in better living conditions for those who are forced to live under their negligence. This win must mean something comprehensive and lasting to tenants. Our administration will use every tool we have to not only create new affordable housing but to preserve existing affordable housing. Because the promise of luxury you can afford should not feel like a relic of a bygone era, it should be the promise of a future that we build together. And it will be. Because City Hall is going to continue to use every lever at our disposal to make real the promise of affordable, stable housing across the five boroughs. Thank you very much. And with that, I would like to introduce our Commissioner of HPD, Dina Levy.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think first I want to just highlight your question, Katie. When we heard from our tenant leader, so often in the coverage of these kinds of announcements, it is boiled down to statistics. And we heard what this actually means for tenants at the individual level. The fact that our HPD commissioner was here organizing 20 years ago and is now here two decades later. That back then, at the time of her organizing, there was another man who was organizing; now, he's a public advocate. It has taken so long to get to this moment. So, I want to go a little bit through the timeline, and I'm going to pass it over to our HPD commissioner to add some additional specifics. I was speaking about the chief restructuring officer. They have already hired a property manager. Part of what is going to imbue that hiring decision with meaning is the fact that the landlord's accounts have been frozen and $900,000 that should have otherwise been spent on repairs years ago [is] immediately going to be put towards repairs there. Commissioner, do you want to add?
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I think the first thing I want to say is — I think everyone here can hear that frustration, and I understand it because what you're also speaking of, sir, is [that] the landlord's negligence has forced tenants to not just pay their rent but, like you're saying, to pay more than that. To pay for the heaters — [Crosstalk]. So, the first thing that I want to just address on this is that there have been lawsuits before. There have been settlements before. The conditions, however, have not changed. And so, our first focus is to ensure that the conditions change immediately. That is the first focus we have— [Crosstalk.] I understand it. And I think there's never any judgment to it because we're talking about decades. Decades of frustration. And people want to know that life is going to be different moving forward.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceLook, I think you've heard it in the man's question from earlier, which is the fact that there have been a number of false dawns in this city when it comes to actually listening to tenants. I do not begrudge any tenant their frustration. If I had to pay out of my pocket for the services that my rent were supposed to be paying for, I too would have to see until I actually believed it. And the point, as you've heard from other elected officials here as well as myself, is that this is a new administration. This is an administration that makes very clear that there is no tolerance for impunity. It does not matter how many portfolios you own, how many buildings you have, [or] how many times you have violated the law without any kind of consequence; we are going to hold those landlords accountable. And what I ask tenants here for is the continued voice that they have brought to the table because part of the reason that we are standing before you is because tenants organized for this moment. And I know that it will — for some tenants today is a beautiful day. For other tenants I know it will be the day when the elevator works. For other tenants it will be the day when they don't see a rat. For other tenants it will be the day when they don't have to pay out of their pocket for a space heater. And all of that is understandable to me, and what I am proud of standing here alongside other elected officials is that we're not just announcing a dollar amount. We're talking about a chief restructuring officer, an immediate hiring of a property manager, the freezing of the landlord's accounts [and] the money that would have otherwise been taken away from tenants now being reinvested back into tenants' lives so that tenants can actually start to ask questions about their own lives and not about the lives that landlords should have been providing for a long time ago.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think what we are seeing time and again — and I think the public advocate spoke about this — there are a lot of people who are saying there are a number of different options that the city has. We are utilizing every single option in front of us and the most important thing for us is a change of the conditions that tenants are actually living through, because that's what I know for most tenants is the difference for them. It's not as much about what happens to the landlord it's the question of: “What happens to me? What happens to my apartment? What happens to my building?” We want to use every method we have to ensure that we're actually making those repairs.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I'll first just start by saying that I want all New Yorkers to succeed. That includes business owners and entrepreneurs who create good paying jobs, who make the city the economic engine, not just of our state, but frankly, of our country. And that also includes Ken Griffin, who is a major employer in our city. That does not negate the fact, however, that our tax system is fundamentally broken. It rewards extreme wealth while working people are pushed to the brink. It is a status quo that is unsustainable, that is unjust. And if we want the city to be one that working people can actually afford to live in, then we need meaningful tax reform that includes the wealthiest New Yorkers paying their fair share.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think first and foremost, I want to say that there is no tolerance for antisemitism in our city. It is something that we must root out of every single borough of our city, and we have to ensure that Jewish New Yorkers are safe in this city, and frankly, that the threshold is not just that of safety, but that they are celebrated and cherished just as any other New Yorker is. And when we were looking at our quarterly crime statistics, we saw that hate crimes out of all of the major categories, we were seeing that hate crimes were still rising in the city. And that Jewish New Yorkers, while comprising a minority of the city's population, still comprise more than half of all of hate crimes in this same city. And while we haven't seen an incredible increase in that number, it is still troubling wherever it is. And that is something that we are committed to rooting out of the city.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYou know, I think first and foremost, to make it clear that my vision of this city is one that has Jewish New Yorkers not just safe in this city but celebrated as an incredible part of this city. And I'm proud of our Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, which is headed by Phylisa Wisdom, who is in the midst of setting up a listening tour across the city to create the first municipal approach to combating antisemitism that we have seen across the country. These are the kinds of things we need, because it cannot simply be responses to acts of antisemitism to making it clear that they are unacceptable. That is obvious. We also have to do the work to ensure that we're preventing antisemitism. Now, to your question that you asked about the officer, you know, first, I was alerted to this video by Liz Kim of Gothamist. So, I saw the video. I did not, however, have any involvement in that decision, nor did my City Hall. That was, my understanding, is a decision that was made in accordance with NYPD's administrative guidelines.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceThe idea here is that we actually have an office that is listening to Jewish leaders across the city, and through that, better understanding the ways in which the city can approach the work of combating antisemitism.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI can get back to you on the specifics of that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceYes, I think that I've made it clear time and time again that we in this city believe in the sacrosanct nature of the right to protest and also are committed to ensuring that any New Yorker can safely enter or exit from a house of worship and that access never be in question while we also protect the First Amendment, and I do believe that the police ensured that yesterday.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceNo, I think that critique of the policies of a government is very much separate from bigotry toward the people of a specific religious faith. And there is no tolerance for antisemitism. There is no tolerance for hatred of Jewish New Yorkers, which we have seen time and time again, whether it be in the graffitiing of swastikas on a number of homes across Queens recently. And I've also been clear to New Yorkers, my honest opinions about the fact that when we have a real estate expo that is promoting the sale of land, which includes the sale of land in occupied West Bank in settlements that are a violation of international law, that is something that I firmly disagree with and that I also believe that many New Yorkers firmly disagree with, because it has been at the heart of an ongoing effort to displace Palestinians from their homes.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI'll start with the comptroller's report, and then I'll move into the state budget. I appreciated the comptroller's thoughtful assessment of our city's budget and our workforce vacancies. I also thought it was a very good pun to open the report of the “Phantom of the Opera-ting Budget.” I do appreciate a good pun. I think that the report underscores the fact that we have appropriately and responsibly budgeted and found relevant savings as it relates to our vacancies, and that we've incorporated those assessments, as you said, into our preliminary budget, and I think to your question about the state budget, we know that those conversations and negotiations are ongoing. I'm heartened by the fact that in the governor, in the Assembly speaker, in the majority leader of the state Senate, we have partners who understand how important it is for the city to be back on firm financial footing. We've seen that partnership time and time again over the course of the budget process, and we know that there are still many a conversation to be had before the finalization of this budget, but we're thankful that we know we have partners who are the ones having those conversations. Thank you all so much. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani, HPD Announce Largest-Ever Penalty Against Negligent Bronx Landlords.