Mamdani's landlord squeeze is step one in his plan to seize private property: NYC GOP councilwoman

GOP New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is sounding the alarm over the process by which the Mamdani administration could go about taking away properties from landlords, as his "tenant advocate" Cea Weaver has talked about confiscating private property from homeowners.

Paladino posted to X with the step-by-step process she could see the Mamdani administration using to seize real estate from landlords and property owners.

"Step 1: ‘Organize’ tenants to file dozens and dozens of complaints with the building department to establish cause for investigation. Step 2: Squeeze these same landlords with massive compounding fines they will not be able to get out from under. Use rent strikes and rent control laws to limit income, making compliance with tenant complaints financially impossible. Step 3: Use the outstanding debt with the city resulting from the fines and noncompliance as leverage with mortgage and bankruptcy courts to have the buildings turned over to the city and/or designated nonprofits at fire sale prices," she wrote.

She said that this will be the process by which "private property will be stripped from owners, and how politically-favored activist nonprofits will become the new land barons of NYC." She then said the process will continue to move to smaller and smaller real estate until the city reaches "private homeowners who rent an upstairs or basement apartment."

"And once they take over these properties, they will be left to rot, just like NYCHA is. That’s the future the marxists want for us. It’s just plain evil," she added. Mamdani has repeatedly talked about how his administration plans to seize property from landlords that the city deems to not be in good repair.

The post from Paladino comes as Mamdani’s administration has planned to hold “rental ripoff” hearings, which would be part of the “step 1” Paladino is talking about. The hearings are set to take place around the city in Mamdani's first 100 days in office. This comes as landlords have also been wary of Weaver as Mamdani’s “tenant advocate.” 

Weaver, who has been slammed for past comments regarding her socialist policy proposals, wrote in a 2018 post that she wanted to “seize private property!” In August 2019, Weaver wrote, “Private property, including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy.” She has spoken about shifting property into being a “collective good” shared in communities.