Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed 9.5% property tax hike amounts to a declaration of “war” against homeowners — and would inevitably lead to higher rents for New Yorkers, housing industry officials warned Tuesday.
Mamdani, as part of his proposed $127 billion preliminary budget plan, threatened to raise property taxes across the board unless Albany and Gov. Kathy Hochul give him the income tax hike he wants on millionaires, even though doing so could lead to downstream costs for tenants.
“It is a de facto rent increase on renters,” Kenny Burgos, CEO of rent-stabilized landlord group, New York Apartment Association, told The Post.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed a property tax hike for New Yorkers to fund his city budget. Stephen Yang for NY Post“And for rent stabilized tenants who may not get the costs passed directly onto them, this is the city raiding their rent money that’s going to show up in more distress, more disrepaired housing,” he said.
“Increased property taxes = a rent increase,” Burgos also posted on X.
Landlords across the board would ultimately pass down some of the costs of increased taxes onto renters, agreed Jay Martin, head of the New York Apartment Association.
“Nothing says housing affordability like raising housing’s largest expense. Property taxes.” Martin posted on X, in a dig at Democratic socialist Mamdani’s emphasis on the hot button issue.
Landlords across the board would ultimately pass down some of the costs of increased taxes onto renters, agreed Jay Martin, head of the New York Apartment Association. APOther landlord groups, like the Small Property Owners of New York, were left seething by the plan, too.
“The mayor has declared war on thousands of immigrant property owners, most of them multigenerational families, who have their entire life’s savings invested in their small buildings,” Ann Korchak, the group’s president, wrote in a statement.
She went as far as accusing Mamdani of wanting to bankrupt landlords in an effort to have the city take over private housing, something his top tenant advocate Cea Weaver has openly called for.
A general view of an “Apartments for Rent” sign as seen in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York, NY on November 19, 2025. Christopher Sadowski“That’s exactly what this new mayor wants because it would accelerate his grand scheme of illegally taking private property and converting it into socialized housing,” Korchak railed.
Mamdani also pledged to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized units for four years, a key part of his mayoral campaign.
Other landlord groups, like the Small Property Owners of New York, were left seething by the plan, too. AP Photo/Seth WenigBurgos called the proposed property tax hike and rent freeze a “double blow.”
“It will create more slums in these rent stabilized housing. I mean, he’s quite literally raiding the rainy day fund, raiding renters pockets and destroying New York City housing,” he said.The proposed property tax hike comes as Mamdani is set to further tap into his DSA base’s fury against landlords in a set of hearings where tenants can air their grievances to the city.
Mamdani is framing the proposed hike as a “last resort” if Albany won’t let him hike income taxes 2% on New York City residents.But the move is already facing backlash, including from City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Hochul.
“Did I miss the memo that raising taxes on hardworking middle-class New Yorkers to maintain the current level of spending was part of the ‘affordability agenda’?” Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Brooklyn) piped up on X.
