We're Taking Legal Action' - Mamdani Facing Massive Lawsuit Over His Election
Mamdani’s Rent Freeze Is Getting Sued — and the Process That Produced It Was a Fraud From the Start
Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised New York City renters a rent freeze during his campaign. He then appointed six of the seven members of the board responsible for setting rent increases. That board voted 7-1 to freeze rents. One member resigned in protest beforehand, stating publicly that her colleagues had already decided the outcome before reviewing a single data point.
A group of landlords just sued to overturn it. They’re calling it what it is: a sham.
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board is supposed to function as an independent fact-finding body — reviewing economic conditions in the residential real estate industry and making data-driven decisions about whether rents should increase, decrease, or hold. The lawsuit alleges the board did none of that. It cherry-picked data, understated operating costs, overstated landlord revenues, and delivered the predetermined outcome Mamdani needed before the ink was dry on his inauguration speech.
The resigning board member said it plainly: the body had “ceased to function as a fact-finding body.” Her former colleagues intended to freeze rent regardless of what the evidence showed. She refused to participate and quit. The remaining six — all Mamdani appointees — proceeded without her and delivered exactly what their boss wanted.
Randy Mastro, the attorney representing the landlords, captured the essential corruption of the process: “Zohran Mamdani promised to deliver a rent freeze during his campaign and then he went to extraordinary lengths as a new mayor to guarantee it. This is a perversion of the process.”
That’s not hyperbole. That’s a description of how captured regulatory bodies actually work — and why their independence matters. The Rent Guidelines Board exists specifically because the city recognized that rent decisions shouldn’t be made by politicians accountable to landlords who invest the money into rental properties and have all the costs. Strip away the independence, pack the board with mayoral appointees, and you don’t have a regulatory body anymore. You have a campaign promise delivery mechanism with extra steps.
Here’s the economic reality that Mamdani’s ideology prevents him from acknowledging: rent freezes don’t make housing more affordable. They make it scarcer. Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck — about as far from a right-wing think tank as you can get — said in 1971 that rent control is the most efficient technique known to destroy a city short of bombing. The mechanism is straightforward: if landlords can’t raise rents to cover rising costs, they stop maintaining buildings, stop building new ones, and eventually exit the market entirely. Supply falls. Quality deteriorates. The tenants Mamdani claims to champion end up worse off.
This isn’t a conservative talking point. This is the near-unanimous consensus of professional economists across the political spectrum. Rent control polls well. It works badly. These facts have coexisted since the 1970s without changing either.
Mamdani promised a rent freeze and rigged the process to deliver it. New York City will pay the price in housing supply, building quality, and landlord flight for years to come.
The lawsuit is a welcome start. Reality will finish the argument.
Letitia 'No One's Above the Law' James Just Got Sued And You Won't Stop Clapping
Letitia ‘No One’s Above the Law’ James Just Got Sued And You Won’t Stop Clapping
New York Attorney General Letitia James loves to sermonize that “No one is above the law,” but her record shows she really means “No one named Trump is above my political agenda.” Her entire campaign was a single-issue crusade built on the promise to “Get Trump,” and she delivered by filing a bizarre, victimless “fraud” case against him that even the banks involved openly rejected. Not one financial institution claimed harm. Not one lender said they wouldn’t do business with him again.
But that didn’t stop Judge Arthur Engoron—whose bias was obvious from the bench—from imposing an eye-watering, politically convenient fine of nearly half a billion dollars. It was so grotesquely disproportionate that an appeals court finally tossed it in August, delivering a much-needed reality check to James’s lawfare spectacle.
That’s Letitia James in a nutshell—always pushing the ethical limits, always using the weight of her office to intimidate anyone she marks as a political foe. Bullying isn’t an unfortunate byproduct of her approach; it is her approach.
So it’s hardly shocking that a school board chair in New York is now suing the attorney general, accusing James of threatening to oust board members who refused to bow to the progressive orthodoxy on allowing biological men into women’s sports:
The alleged threats came in a “guidance letter” [from James] that warned of the removal of any school board member who uses the wrong pronoun for a trans person, or if they allow students to publicly speak out at school board meetings about their fears and discomfort with student trans athletes using the wrong locker room for their biological sex.
A plaintiff in the suit, Massapequa Union Free School District Board Chair Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told that James’ office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker that expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls’ locker rooms and sports.
Massapequa Union Free School District Board Chair Kerry Wachter, alleged she was told that James' office instructed her to mute and dismiss any board meeting speaker that expressed views opposing trans athletes in girls' locker rooms and sports.
Wachter says James’ intimidation tactics are designed to intimidate her and others into silence:
“They’re saying if we allow this discussion in our board meetings, she can come in and remove us from the board,” Wachter told Fox News Digital. “They want me to stop public comment and stop them from speaking.”
Wachter added that trans students were not being directly named in any board meetings, and conversations were only based around the feelings and concerns of female students.
James claimed that school board members can be removed when “they willfully neglect their duty or violate legal protections for students in their districts.” She went on to add that the state’s Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) bars harassment and bullying.
Nevertheless, Attorney Kim Hermann from the Southeastern Legal Foundation has a note for James – There is an important constitutional principle known as the First Amendment.
“The First Amendment here reigns true, and so whether or not you have these state laws, a state cannot come in and just erase the First Amendment out of the Constitution,” Hermann said, per Fox News. “Whether or not statements and discussions about transgender and these different policies actually violate those state laws is absolutely irrelevant for what we’re talking about in this lawsuit.
James has shown time and again that she’s not an impartial public servant but a partisan enforcer, eager to weaponize her office against anyone who lands on her enemies list. She doesn’t just stretch her authority — she twists it into a political bludgeon.
If there’s any justice left in New York, this lawsuit will stick and finally force some accountability. Frankly, it’s long past time someone pushed back.
‘Squad’ Democrat Arrested for Protesting Israel’s Netanyahu at U.N.
‘Squad’ Democrat Candidate Arrested At Netanyahu Protest
A New York Democrat was arrested Thursday during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the United Nations.
Darializa Avila Chevalier was charged with disorderly conduct outside United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, according to police cited by Bloomberg.
Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in June’s primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District.
The district includes parts of Harlem and the Bronx and strongly favors Democrats in the general election.
Her victory removed the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and handed Mayor Zohran Mamdani another political win.
Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier, who campaigned against continued American support for Israel during its war against Hamas.
The protest unfolded as Netanyahu addressed the U.N. General Assembly and defended Israel against accusations over its Gaza campaign.
Jewish Voice for Peace organized a demonstration outside the building that drew about 200 participants, according to Reuters.
Wearing matching white shirts, protesters carried messages including “Fund people not bombs” and “Free Palestine.”
Some participants sat on First Avenue and blocked traffic while police ordered them to clear the roadway.
Several moved to the sidewalks, but others stayed seated as officers arrived and began making arrests.
Reuters initially reported at least 30 arrests, while CBS New York later cited police sources estimating about 100.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist overwhelmingly favored in the race for a House seat representing part of New York City, was arrested while protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations. https://t.co/aR3PCM0d5Y
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 24, 2026
Avila Chevalier defended her participation and called Netanyahu a war criminal in a statement to City & State New York.
She said she would not allow him to walk through the city without facing public opposition.
The Democratic nominee also accused Israel of killing or injuring more than 64,000 children in Gaza.
That figure was her claim, and the reports reviewed for this article did not independently establish it.
“Netanyahu belongs at the Hague,” Avila Chevalier said in another statement after her arrest, according to Bloomberg.
New York City Council member Chi Ossé was arrested at the protest and denounced American financial support for Israel.
“I’m sick and tired of my taxpayer dollars going towards an active genocide,” Ossé told PIX11.
The demonstrations also drew entertainers, including actors Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder, who police took into custody.
Police sources also identified whistleblower Chelsea Manning, comedian Caleb Hearon, and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher among those arrested, CBS reported.
Some protesters chanted against Netanyahu while police secured their hands with zip ties and escorted them to buses.
Supporters of Israel also gathered nearby, and CBS reported that confrontations between opposing groups sometimes escalated into fistfights.
Inside the General Assembly, dozens of delegations walked out as Netanyahu began speaking, while others applauded him.
Netanyahu sharply rejected allegations of genocide and criticized Mamdani during his address to the world body.
“Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century,” Netanyahu said, according to Bloomberg.
He also argued that Jewish residents no longer feel safe in New York under Mamdani’s leadership.
Mamdani has called Netanyahu a war criminal and previously suggested arresting him if he visited New York.
The mayor later acknowledged that city officials lack authority to execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
That court issued a warrant in 2024 alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Gaza.
Israel disputes the allegations, and neither Israel nor the United States is a member of the court.
Israel says its military campaign targets Hamas after the terrorist group’s October 7, 2023, attack.
The attack killed approximately 1,200 people and resulted in the kidnapping of 251 others, according to Israeli authorities.
Gaza health officials report tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths, with their overall tally combining civilians and fighters.
Avila Chevalier’s victory reflected that divide, as her campaign challenged Espaillat’s support for the longtime American ally, The Washington Post reported.
Mamdani-backed candidates Brad Lander and Claire Valdez also won New York congressional primaries in June.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
