New York City mayoral candidate and democratic State Representative Zohran Mamdani campaigns in New York City on April 16, 2025. Voters will head to the polls on June 24, 2025, to vote in the Democratic primary in the New York City mayoral election. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
"What this tour is reflective of is the fact that Donald Trump is attacking this city," Mamdani answered. "It's attacking its people. It's attacking the very fabric of what we call home. And we've spoken about it in a fiscal sense, in terms of what it will mean to steal food from the hungry, what it will mean to throw sick people off of their insurance, what it will mean to make it even more difficult to afford the city. And so, yes, this is a tour against the Trump administration's attack on New York City voters."
Mamdani added that if Trump "wants to pick up the phone" to work on issues like cheap groceries that he is "willing to work with him on that" but it cannot be a "partnership at the expense of the people in the city."
Mamdani has faced strong criticism, including from New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, about his plan to "freeze" rent in the city for some New Yorkers.
Candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference while campaigning outside a Subway station in New York City, U.S., April 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Mamdani continued by saying what he has "heard from landlords" is primary concerns about insurance.
"The fact that insurance has doubled in recent years and I see an example in a number of those landlords coming together to create their own insurance entity," Mamdani said. "I may butcher the name, but Milford Street Captive, which has managed to reduce insurance costs, that's something that the city can build upon with more significant investment."
"I've also heard from these same landlords that an issue they have is not that a tenant cannot afford the 3 or 4 or 5% increase that the Rent Guidelines Board is passing, as per the directive from Eric Adams. It's that there are some tenants who can't afford their rent at all," Mamdani said.
Mamdani went on to call for more rent vouchers, saying that there are "so many" New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized housing that can benefit from CityFHEPS.
"That could actually increase the amount of money that these landlords take home in rent, but the city hasn't paid enough," Mamdani said.
"Those previous rent freezes were temporary, were they not?," Mamdani was pressed by Llenas.
"I've spoken about a four-year rent freeze," Mamdani responded before moving on to the next question.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-pressed-on-pledge-to-be-trumps-worst-nightmare-and-landlord-pushback-on-rent-freeze-plan