On Tuesday, experts issued a stern warning to New York renters. As Zohran Mamdani proposes a 9.5% hike in property tax, citizens could face higher rents. The mayor has threatened to raise property taxes across the board, as part of his $127 billion preliminary budget plan. He plans on implementing this unless Albany and Governor Kathy Hochul approve the income tax hike he wants on millionaires.
This could inevitably lead to higher rents in the city, as warned by housing industry officials. On Tuesday, Kenny Burgos, the CEO of the rent-stabilized landlord group, the New York Apartment Association, told the New York Post, “It is a de facto rent increase on renters.”
NOW — Zohran Mamdani Says Property Tax Hikes May Be Needed to Solve NYC’s Budget ‘Crisis’
“If we do not go down the first path, the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path … We would have to raise property taxes.” pic.twitter.com/0KbocFfwpz
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) February 17, 2026
“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 added. Burgos also tweeted, “Increased property taxes = a rent increase.”
Jay Martin, the head of the New York Apartment Association, echoed Burgos. Martin explained that as the proposed property tax hike is implemented, landlords across the board would ultimately pass down some of the increased costs on tenants.
On X (formerly Twitter), Martin posted, “Nothing says housing affordability like raising housing’s largest expense. Property taxes.” Landlord groups like the Small Property Owners of New York also feel the same way.
Ann Korchak, the president of the group, stated, “The mayor has declared war on thousands of immigrant property owners, most of them multigenerational families, who have their entire life savings invested in their small buildings.”
Korchak accused Mamdani of aiming to bankrupt homeowners as part of his effort to have New York City take over private housing. “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,” she stated.
Increased property taxes = a rent increase pic.twitter.com/olDrlgoMwg
— Kenny Burgos (@KennyBurgosNY) February 17, 2026
Aside from the tax hike, Mamdani also pitched in his mayoral campaign to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized units for four years. Kenny Burgos has described it as 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,” Burgos said.
Mamdani’s proposal is a part of his declaration of “war” against homeowners in New York. It comes as the mayor prepares to tap into his Democratic socialist administration’s base’s feud against landlords. His “rental ripoff” hearing would host its first complaint session on February 26. However, the program will mostly focus on renters and owners of privately owned buildings over tenants of the New York City Housing Authority.
