Much of the Left’s agenda focuses on creating feel-good but nonfunctional programs for the supposed downtrodden and oppressed, while ensuring that they—and their allies—share in the spoils of government largesse.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani could very well be a maestro at giving his leftwing base exactly what they want while doing nothing to solve the problems he says he intends to address.

Mamdani has really stressed the problem of “affordability” and abusive landlords in his so-called “rental ripoff” tour.

“In a city filled with older buildings that could use some tender loving care, some landlords are taking advantage of the housing market to gouge tenants with outrageous fees, all while leaving them trying to survive in homes with collapsing ceilings and sinking floors,” Mamdani said in an Instagram video according to the New York Post.

To address this issue, Mamdani intends to use the power of government, which by his estimation can fix any problem.

To make everything better with housing in New York, Mamdani appointed some notable advisers.

One is his tenant director Cea Weaver, a committed communist whose goal is apparently to collectivize property and impoverish middle class white people. Don’t ask her questions about that though or she’ll cry about it.

Another is Dina Levy, who Mamdani announced as the Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The mayor’s office announced that Levy â€œbrings decades of experience developing and organizing for safe, affordable housing to the agency, fighting tirelessly for dignified housing for all New Yorkers” and said that Levy will ensure “the habitability of all homes in New York.”

Proud to have Dina Levy joining us as Commissioner of @NYCHousing. Dina has spent decades fighting for safe, affordable, and dignified housing, and she’ll help move our housing agenda forward for New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/sgmzanQE5r

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) January 5, 2026

That sounds good, except there is a little problem. Levy’s management of housing in New York appears to be worse than the private sector alternatives.

According to the New York Post, a Bronx apartment that Mamdani showed off while introducing Levy to the public is deeply troubled and has “racked up nearly 200 unresolved violations.”

“The 102-unit building at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in Morris Heights as of Saturday had a staggering 194 open housing-code violations dating back to 2016—including 88 ‘Class C’ violations considered ‘immediately hazardous,’” the Post reported.

These violations include problems related to various pest infestations, mold, broken appliances, and more.

The complex has more than double the “Class C” violations of the 71-unit complex in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn that Mamdani used to demonstrate the problem with privately-owned housing in the city.

The Post reported that Levy “helped facilitate a 2011 deal for nonprofit Workforce Housing Advisors to buy and rehab the Sedgwick Avenue complex from private landlords.” She did this “with help from a $5.6 million HPD loan she and her own nonprofit, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board.”

On top of the violations, some of the residents in Levy’s affordable housing complex told the Post that the building was better run under a previous, private landlord.

“I have been here over 20 years, and I preferred it when it was under private management because they used to screen people in and out of the building,” said current resident Mordistine Alexander in an interview with the New York Post.

“Since [the nonprofit] took over, the building has deteriorated,” Alexander said. “They lack porters. No one is maintaining it, and the complaints fall on deaf ears—especially if you complain a lot.”

One city councilwoman, Republican Joann Ariola from Queens, said in the story that nonprofits like the one running the Sedgewick Building are little more than “taxpayer-funded slumlords.”

Great stuff.

As usual with the Left, it’s the thought that counts. And, now in New York, the Left has a clear runway to make their thoughts count in all the most terrible ways.

The New York City Council is looking to pass a law to force property owners to take their first sale offers from “community land trusts” and nonprofits like Levy’s, which will have the ability to match any offer.

It’s a clear attempt to squeeze private ownership out of the Big Apple.

No doubt the results will be the same. People like Levy and Mamdani will do just fine while everyone else pays the price.

Mamdani said he would govern like a socialist, and I believe him.

For now, it’s all about photo ops and good intentions. Tomorrow, it will be failure and cynicism. Hence, the cycle of socialism repeats itself.

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