"No heat, no hot water. The boiler wasn't working. I have water in my walls," renter Tori Brown informed officials at the first Rental Ripoff Hearing last month in Brooklyn. Another tenant told NTD that he had been dealing with "leaky roof issues, pest issues, mold issues" for almost a year because any repairs costing $10,000 or more require court approval.
The event was advertised with signs that read "New Yorkers vs. Bad Landlords." In a promotional video for the hearings, which give renters a chance to air their grievances directly to government officials, Mayor Zohran Mamdani called out landlords for "taking advantage of the housing market to gouge tenants with outrageous fees."
