Exclusive | Mamdani's plan to 'transfer' building ownership to tenants uses existing NYC programs - that have repeatedly failed

A housing plan proposes using city resources to remove negligent owners and transfer chronically neglected buildings to responsible stewards. The plan relies on existing bureaucratic and agency programs dating back to at least the 1970s, which have previously required government bailouts. A former housing official says tenants often are not equipped to run buildings, needing skills like bookkeeping and consistent rent collection. The plan’s accountability mechanism would use court action to implement a little-known 7A program, where a housing court judge appoints a nonprofit to manage a building. Another pillar aims to expand resident-run cooperatives through Housing Development Fund Corporation programs with strict regulations on income, subletting, and resale.

"The socialist mayor, as he announced his sprawling housing plan Wednesday, vowed to use city resources to help "remove negligent owners" and transfer buildings that have "suffered chronic neglect" into the hands of "responsible stewards." But the administration's initiative, dubbed "Fix the City," aims to make use of already existing bureaucratic and agency programs that date back to at least the 1970s - and have repeatedly needed the government to swoop in with bailouts, a Post review found."

""The city has long tried to help tenants become owners of buildings, but tenants are necessary equipped to run the building," one former insider at the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development said. "You need someone to be a good bookkeeper and to collect rent from the neighbors," the source said, adding, "It's really hard to do and hard to do well.""

"Mamdani's main mechanism, which he touted to hold landlords accountable, would be for the city to drag alleged bad actors to court in an attempt to implement a little-known program, named 7A, in which a housing court judge would appoint a non-profit to take over the management of a building."

"Another pillar of the mayor's plan calls for City Hall to ramp up the number of buildings that are collectively owned and operated by the people who live there - framing it as a revolutionary path to increasing homeownership in a city where roughly 70% of residents are renters. Under the Housing Development Fund Corporation program, the cooperatives are run by the "shareholders" and subject to strict regulations, such as limits on income for residents and subletting and resale rates."

Read at New York Post