NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani signs housing executive orders on first day

Sworn in at midnight, then publicly a few hours later, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used his first day in office Thursday to embark on new executive orders targeting the city’s landlords and housing development. And he said the city would take what he called an “unprecedented step” to intervene in a private landlord bankruptcy case that he said was linked to 93 buildings.

“Today is the beginning of a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said. “It’s inauguration day. It’s also the day the rent has to be paid.”

Speaking at a Brooklyn apartment building, Mamdani presented the measures as an early test of whether the city government will directly confront landlords over housing conditions and pursue legal action that could determine whether tenants stay in their units.

Mamdani said New Yorkers who attended his inauguration were returning to apartments where, he said, “bad landlords don’t do repairs,” rents are rising and residents face problems like cockroaches and lack of heat.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces his first executive orders on Thursday. (Fox News/Pool)

The mayor said the new administration “will not wait to act” and “will defend the interests of the people of this city.”

Mamdani announced three housing-related executive orders, starting with the relaunch of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which he said will focus on resolving complaints and holding landlords accountable for unsafe conditions.

“We will ensure that 311 violations are resolved,” Mamdani said, adding that the administration will hold “slum landlords” accountable for “dangerous and dangerous threats” to tenants’ well-being.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his inaugural address at City Hall on Thursday. (Fox News/Pool)

Mamdani said the second executive order creates a LIFT task force, or land inventory effort designed to leverage city-owned land and accelerate housing development. He said the task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1.

The third executive order creates a SPEED task force, which Mamdani says stands for Streamlining Procedures to Accelerate Equitable Development. He said the task force would work to remove permitting hurdles that slow housing construction.

Both task forces will be overseen by Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Lila Joseph, he said.

“These are drastic measures, but they are only the beginning of a comprehensive effort to champion the cause of tenants,” Mamdani said.

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Zohran Mamdani attends the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony on September 11, 2025, in New York. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Earlier today, Mamdani signed Executive Order No. 1, which revoked all previous Mayoral Executive Orders under former Mayor Eric Adams, issued as of September 26, 2024, unless they were specifically reissued by Mamdani’s administration.

Mamdani signed a second decree setting out the structure of his administration, including five deputy mayors and their oversight responsibilities.

The mayor made the announcement at 85 Clarkson Ave., a rent-stabilized building that he said is owned by Pinnacle Realty, which he described as a “notorious landlord.”

Mamdani said tenants in the building have faced problems including cockroaches and a lack of heat.

Mamdani said the building is one of 93 properties linked to the same owner and that the portfolio is in bankruptcy proceedings.

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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani raises his right hand during his inauguration ceremony at Old City Hall Station Thursday morning. (Amir Hamja/New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The mayor said the buildings would be sold at auction to another owner. He claimed it ranked No. 6 on the list of New York City’s worst landlords, adding that the buildings collectively had more than 5,000 open dangerous violations and 14,000 complaints.

“It’s an untenable situation,” Mamdani said. “That is why we are announcing today that we will take action in the bankruptcy case and intervene to represent the interests of the city and those of the tenants.”

Mamdani said he had directed his representative as the company’s attorney, Steve Banks, to take what he called “a precedent-setting step” in the matter.

“We are a creditor and an interested party,” Mamdani said, adding that the city is owed money and will fight for “safe, livable housing” while working to “mitigate the significant risk of displacement” tenants face.

A tenant at the event described unsafe conditions at the Pinnacle buildings and said a section of the flooring in the speaker’s mother’s apartment had not been repaired in seven years.

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“When they filed for bankruptcy this spring, Pinnacle gambled on making our housing less affordable and our lives more miserable,” the speaker said.

The mayor said the measures mark the start of a more aggressive use of executive power on housing issues on his first day in office.

Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.