A Staten Island judge on Friday agreed to move a case challenging Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rent freeze to Manhattan, delivering a win to the mayor who argued the case should be heard in the county where the vote was held.
The judge, Ralph J. Porzio, agreed with the city that while homes in Staten Island will be affected by the rent freeze, the decision by the Rent Guidelines Board was not made in Richmond county, where Staten Island is located. The board is in Manhattan, which is part of New York county.
Randy Mastro, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, opposed the move, saying that “Staten Island may be smaller in population than the other boroughs in our city, but it is every bit as important, and it is just as affected by this decision as any other borough.”
Justice Porzio’s decision on Friday marks the most recent development in a series of legal challenges that have been waged against parts of Mr. Mamdani’s new policies.
Mr. Mastro, a longtime critic of Mr. Mamdani, is also representing a group of homeowners who have sued the city for its rollout of a contentious tax on the second homes of wealthy New Yorkers, saying the effort was mishandled.
For Mr. Mamdani, the policies at issue in the lawsuits hit at the core of his agenda.
During last year’s mayoral election, Mr. Mamdani’s campaign promise to “freeze the rent” in rent-stabilized housing became a major rallying cry for his supporters, representing his focus on affordability for tenants. But it also drew the ire of landlords and some housing experts, who said the slogan irresponsibly downplayed the deteriorating economic conditions in many rent-stabilized buildings.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
