Rent Freeze Lawsuit to Move to Manhattan from Staten Island

A lawsuit to roll back New York’s rent freeze will move from Staten Island to Manhattan.

Judge Ralph Porzio of Richmond County, a Republican, handed down the decision in the case Friday. 

Plaintiffs, landlords who own rent-stabilized units, had originally filed the case in Richmond County. But the city successfully convinced a judge that the venue was improper and the case should be heard in Manhattan. The city argued that Manhattan was the appropriate venue because the board made its decision and held hearings in New York County.

The transfer means the Mamdani administration will face a potentially friendlier audience as it argues that the decision to freeze rents was properly administered. 

“While the rent regulations will apply in Richmond County, and specifically to one petitioner, neither the decision complained nor the process undertaken to arrive at that determination have a material connection to Richmond County,” Porzio said in his decision. 

The case will be transferred to New York County Supreme Court. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned to freeze rents in rent-stabilized apartments, vowing to appoint members to the Rent Guidelines Board — which sets the rent levels — who would enact such a freeze. 

In early June the board approved a freeze on both one- and two-year leases, a first for the city. 

The plaintiffs filed their suit in July and are represented by pugnacious attorney and former deputy mayor Randy Mastro. Their petition argues that the board’s consideration of a freeze was a “sham” process with a predetermined outcome and that the board failed to consider economic conditions for the real estate industry. 

The decision to freeze rents has been broadly criticized by the real estate industry. Landlords of rent-stabilized properties argue that the freeze, which caps revenues as expenses grow, will result in buildings falling further into physical and financial distress. New York has about 900,000 rent-stabilized apartments, just under half of the city’s rental supply.

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