New York City socialist Zohran Mamdani is making headlines—and raising alarms—with a radical new housing plan centered on property seizure. Mamdani, who won the NYC Democrat mayoral primary, pledged to target so-called “negligent” landlords by seizing their buildings and transferring them to public control.
Mamdani’s proposal, laid out in a housing memo, would allow the city to force sales through a “public foreclosure process.” Though a rarely used law grants the mayor that authority, the policy shift would mark a dangerous expansion of government power. “The mayor has a lot of power,” warned real estate executive John Catsimatidis. “He could direct the district attorney, direct investigators … he can break your nuts.”
Real estate leaders and small landlords fear that Mamdani’s plan would gut the city’s housing market, decimate private property rights, and worsen the city’s already broken public housing system. “The buildings that are in the worst shape right now … are co-owned by the city,” said New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos, pointing to the city’s record of “dreadful living conditions” and crime in government-run housing.
Mamdani has called for “moving toward the full de-commodification of housing” and ending private ownership altogether. Property owners see his seizure plan as part of a broader socialist agenda. “It’s difficult to have any level of trust in these conversations,” said Eric Dillenberger of the Small Property Owners of New York.
