Who didn’t see this coming? Apparently, New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Rent prices jumped significantly before his massive rent freeze went into effect. Mamdani touted the policy back in January as his signature measure to curb the city’s high housing costs.

Now the average cost of a Manhattan apartment has risen to $6,655 per month, up a whopping 10% from this time last year. This is what you get when you try to legislate market fixes rather than address the actual problem causing the high prices.

The prices are high because the housing supply is limited, not because landlords in the city are ripping people off. It’s the basic economics of supply and demand; basic economics that Mamdani and his administration are refusing to acknowledge.

Chief operating officer of the Corcoran Group, Gary Malin observes, “Misguided New York City and State legislation, like ‘good cause’ eviction, the FARE Act, and the 2019 rent laws, have in large part created this perfect storm for sky-high rents.” He adds, “These laws have curtailed the supply of rental housing. This has caused demand to build up to a boiling point and pricing for available apartments to reach all-time highs. Legislators seem to care more about optics versus the actual impact of their policies. Their initiatives may be well intentioned, but there’s been severe unintended consequences, and today’s apartment seekers are literally paying the price.”

New York passed the FARE Act in 2025, which prohibits landlords from charging tenants broker fees for the services provided by the landlord, including application fees, credit and background checks, pet fees, and other upfront costs.

Prior to the law, the broker fees amounted to roughly 10% to 15% of the annual rent. Therefore, the jump in the city’s average rent price can be directly linked to this law. As economist Kenny Lee noted, “Landlords will always try to offset the additional cost by passing some of it to the renters as a higher base rent. They are not running a charity.”

Mamdani’s rent freeze, scheduled to take effect on October 1, will freeze rental prices in rent-stabilized apartments for one- and two-year leases. This is a recipe for a return to the city’s history of tenement housing. Since the frozen rent will not cover the upkeep expenses landlords incur, there will be little incentive to maintain upkeep.

Meanwhile, Mamdani has also targeted Amazon, specifically its delivery service, for not being unionized. He has recently introduced a bill for New York City’s council, dubiously dubbed the Delivery Protection Act, that would require delivery services to obtain special licensing to operate in the city. The bill requires that warehouse operators directly hire their delivery drivers, thereby excluding any subcontracting out to delivery services.

While Mamdani portrays this legislation as an effort to protect delivery drivers, it is actually a nod to the Teamsters.

Amazon warns that it may relocate its warehouses outside the city limits should the bill pass. Currently, Amazon subcontracts its delivery to some 5,000 drivers, paying them an average of $24 per hour. This allows for speedy same-day deliveries, a service that Mamdani will undermine by catering to the unions.

Furthermore, the subcontracted delivery drivers will see their work opportunities significantly cut, which, of course, translates to less money for them.

What Mamdani is also doing is making it harder for delivery subcontractors to work for themselves, narrowing the industry into a few big delivery companies. This, in turn, will raise delivery costs, so everyone loses.

Far from making New York City more affordable, Mamdani is doing the opposite, as has been the case with all socialists.