Let’s start with Mamdani. His legal brief on the Pinnacle portfolio bankruptcy claimed that even at the mere $88,000 per unit offered by Summit Properties USA, the price would be too high.
This is the same man who claimed during his campaign that rent-stabilized housing owners were profiting handsomely. Now Mamdani declares that rent-stabilized housing has been created virtually worthless.
He says it too should are almost worthless so owners can’t borrow against them, freeing up money for operating costs and repairs instead of mortgage payments.
Social media commentators pounced. Some said the city’s legal filings should be presented to the Supreme Court as proof that rent stabilization has occurred take one of private property – and therefore unconstitutional.
Summit’s offer is actually higher than other rent-stabilized portfolios are asking for. One PR industry veteran told me he can’t wrap his head around the fact that it costs $800,000 to build an affordable unit in New York City, but only $69,000 to buy one.
“The delta between the cost and value of the affordable units is striking,” he emailed. “I’m not an economist, but if a good is worth 1/10th of what it costs to produce, I think there’s a problem.”
Also notable: tenant activist Weaver was forced to say that her previous tweets that private property should be seized and that homeownership is a tool of white supremacy “regrettably‘ and ‘not something I would say today.’
Weaver, 37, has been consistent these opinions for years. Suddenly she finds that they are sorry? What she really regrets is having to bring them back. Swallowing your pride is the price you have to pay for being in City Hall instead of protesting on the steps.
Weaver apologizing is another sign that Mamdani is distancing ourselves from radicalism to rule. Meanwhile, Trump’s aides in Washington appear to be doing the opposite: giving up regular opinions she once held in favor of provocative statements to appease the boss and the base.
Speaking of Trump, you know we’re in strange times with him and Hochul borrowing each other’s ideas. And not good ideas either.
Trump on Wednesday called for a ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes, something Hochul did last year — with cowardly state lawmakers joining in.
My column about Hochul’s proposal had a very subtle headline: “Why Hochul’s crackdown on real estate investors makes absolutely no sense.”
Institutional investors make up a small portion of the market and don’t get involved in bidding wars on homes. They rent houses to people who cannot or do not want to be owners. They own less than 1 percent of single-family homes and 3 or 4 percent of single-family homes. They make an allowance 0.5 percent Unpleasant 2 percent of single-family purchases. For six consecutive quarters they have sold more houses than they have bought.
Trump’s house-buying bombshell came just six days after Hochul suggested:no tax on tips,” matching a Trump campaign proposal that Congress included in the Big Beautiful Bill.
One is about real estate policy and the other is about taxes, but they are similar in that they are designed to fool voters, not be effective policies.
Trump’s “no tax on tips” sounds progressive because tipped workers are not high earners. But this applies to only 2 percent of employees. What about the other 98 percent? Why do restaurant servers, but not kitchen staff, deserve a tax break?
About 37 percent of tipped workers don’t even make enough money to pay federal income taxes, so Trump’s policies save them nothing. But their tips are still subject to payroll taxes.
Hochul’s proposal appears to be a preemptive step to ensure that her Republican challenger, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, cannot take over for his own campaign.
If the first week of 2026 is any indication, it’s going to be a wild year.
Read more
Judge rejects Mamdani’s bid to pause Pinnacle auction, paving the way for a takeover by Summit
Mamdani’s ‘rent rip-off’ hearings: prepare for show trials
Adams ends mayoralty with final mistake
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