Real Estate Reacts to Zohran Mamdani’s Win

5 November 2025

For some in the real estate industry, their worst fears became a reality Tuesday night.

A Democratic socialist is heading to Gracie Mansion.

In his victory speech, Zohran Mamdani said he would go after bad landlords, describing them as proteges of President Donald Trump. He doubled down on his pledge to freeze rents for stabilized tenants, and alluded to his plans to raise taxes for the state’s wealthiest.

“We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants,” he said Tuesday night to a crowd at the Brooklyn Paramount. “We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax rates.”

Real estate professionals donated millions to promote Andrew Cuomo over Mamdani. But now, in the aftermath of the latter’s victory, some are focused — at least publicly — on areas where they agree with the young mayor-elect. That includes increasing the city’s housing supply.

“It would be foolish to reject everything carte blanche,” said Jason Haber, a broker with Compass who helped lead fundraising for a political action committee that supported Cuomo and opposed Mamdani.

Industry players who spoke to The Real Deal repeatedly acknowledged that Mamdani’s emphasis on affordability resonated with New Yorkers.

“He perfectly diagnosed the problem, but it’s the prescription that we in the industry disagree with,” Haber said, pointing to Mamdani’s proposals to freeze rents and raise corporate taxes.

He added, “The fight goes on for what we believe in, what we think is right for the city.”

That fight could play out next year.

“I think the governors’ race just became the most important race in this city,” said Bob Knakal, CEO of BK Real Estate Advisors.

To pay for his ambitious agenda, Mamdani has proposed raising taxes on those earning more than $1 million and increasing the corporate tax rate, both of which will require state action. Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted tax increases, even as Democratic leaders in the state legislature repeatedly proposed hikes.

Cea Weaver, director of the New York State Tenant Bloc, indicated that her organization is already looking ahead to next year’s races.

“We know landlords and developers will throw everything they have to stop us. They can go ahead and try,” Weaver said in a statement. “We are ready to freeze the rent with the mayor-elect and continue this momentum into next year’s statewide races.”

Leaders of the group Small Property Owners of New York, or SPONY, said they are determined to make Mamdani realize that “small property owners are his partners in affordable housing.”

In a joint statement, Ann Korchak, SPONY board president, and Lincoln Eccles, board vice president, said a rent freeze would be “affordable housing Armageddon for tenants and owners.”

“If he doesn’t want his legacy to be the collapse of affordable housing, the mayor-elect must allow the Rent Guidelines Board to set rent adjustments based on the RGB’s own data, and provide small owners with the resources needed to operate their buildings and provide quality affordable housing to New Yorkers,” they said.

Mamdani has said that he is committed to property tax reform and pursuing other forms of relief for property owners, including insurance alternatives.

David Kramer, president of Hudson Companies, said that when he and other affordable housing developers met with Mamdani, he assured them he was not running to punish landlords.

“When it was fairly clear that he was leading in the polls, I and many others took a fresh look at him and realized there was such an overreaction to him, especially in real estate circles,” he said. “In our conversations with him, he struck me as somebody that was going to be practical.”

Part of that perception was looking at Mamdani’s current presence rather than “five-year-old tweets,” Kramer said, referring to unearthed social media posts made by Mamdani, including some that were critical of the NYPD.

Kramer also said he was heartened by Mamdani naming former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer to his transition team, believing it to be a sign he will surround himself with experienced people.

“That sends a huge statement to those people who are fretting,” he said. “His top priority is going to be civic excellence.”

Another developer, who asked to remain anonymous, was less enthused by her appointment, saying “de Blasio 2.0 isn’t going to work.”

Aurora Capital Partners’ Jared Epstein, who helped raise money for Andrew Cuomo, said he will always do whatever he can to contribute to New York’s success.

“This doesn’t exclude trying to find some common ground to work with Mamdani,” he said.

He said Tuesday’s results show that voters “demanded affordability and inclusion,” not that they want to “stall construction or to defund the police.” (Mamdani has said that he doesn’t plan to defund the police in response to questions about a 2020 social media post that showed support for defunding the police.)

“The city cannot produce housing at scale without predictable rules and safe streets,” Epstein said. “Public safety isn’t an ideological luxury; it’s the precondition for investment, retail vitality and neighborhood stability.”

He said the next administration should be judged on “units delivered and certificates of occupancy.” Housing production, he went on, will rely on amending the property tax break 485x and “disciplined” timelines for the city’s land use review process.

Developer Bruce Teitelbaum agreed that, absent changes to 485x, Mamdani will have a difficult time delivering on his plan to build 200,000 housing units.

“We need to build more housing of all categories quickly,” he said. “That premise transcends ideology and theory.”

Teitelbaum is preparing to start construction on his residential project known as One45, where the addition of city subsidies could increase affordability levels under an agreement the developer made with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. He said Mamdani’s focus on economic development and creating more affordable housing is “music to my ears,” but that the new mayor should meet one-on-one with developers and lenders.

“He, as chief executive of the city, is going to have to personally get into the weeds,” he said. “He needs to grab the reins.”