Credit: Ed Reed, Mayoral Photography Office
Newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani paid a visit to The Bronx on Sunday, Jan. 4, to announce the holding of a series of “Rental Ripoff” hearings in defense of tenants, and the appointment of longtime housing leader Dina Levy as the new commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD). The announcement was made during a press conference held at the birthplace of Hip Hop at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx.
Mamdani said Levy brings decades of experience developing and organizing for safe, affordable housing to the agency, saying she has fought “tirelessly for dignified housing for all New Yorkers.” At HPD, they said Levy will execute on what was described as the Mamdani administration’s ambitious housing agenda, including preserving rent-stabilized housing, financing and constructing new affordable housing, connecting New Yorkers to housing, and ensuring the habitability of all homes in New York.
“I am proud to welcome Dina Levy as our next Housing Commissioner,” the new mayor said. “Levy is an experienced and fearless housing leader, and I know that she will fight to protect tenants and tackle our housing crisis head-on. Too many New Yorkers have been forced to pay more for less — living in unsafe, unconscionable, and unaffordable housing. Under my administration, that ends. Today’s executive order is the first step towards giving New Yorkers a voice in addressing the housing crisis that is pricing them out of our city.”
Credit: Ed Reed, Mayoral Photography Office
According to Mamdani administration officials, in fighting for safe, affordable housing for years, Levy worked as both an advocate and within government. They said she previously served as senior vice president of homeownership and community development at Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), New York State’s affordable housing agency.
They said prior to that, she worked as senior advisor to the New York attorney general and as director of organizing at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB). They said she will bring what was described as her “extensive experience organizing tenants, managing housing finance, and much more to HPD.”
Mamdani officials said her appointment was announced at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx, where, they said, in addition to being widely considered the birthplace of Hip Hop, Levy led a successful organizing campaign in 2010 to replace a predatory equity investor with a more responsible landlord, with City assistance.
Mamdani said that for decades, the tenant building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue was a triumph of affordable housing, “so beautiful that its tenants described it like a hotel.” However, he said that when it exited the Mitchell-Lama program in the 2000s, “its new landlord plunged it into decay and neglect, forcing immediate maintenance issues.”
As reported the Mitchell-Lama program provides affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate-income and middle-income families. Tracey Towers in Norwood is also part of the program, opening in 1974 with 871 units across its two towers. Norwood News has reported over the years on the various repair issues affecting the Norwood housing complex.
Meanwhile, Mamdani said the situation at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights was getting worse and likely would have entered a terminal spiral, were it not for Levy who, he said, organized the tenants, advocated on their behalf, and when they bought the mortgage with the help of a $5.6 million loan from HPD, they reclaimed control over their own homes and their own futures.
“I am honored to join the Mamdani administration, and especially honored to join the team working to make New York City an affordable place to live. My experience as a community organizer has shaped my work in public service and will continue to be my inspiration in the work ahead at HPD,” said Levy. “It is my honor to join forces with tenants, homeowners, and dedicated public servants at HPD as we work to usher in a new era of quality and affordability for all.”
Credit: Ed Reed, Mayoral Photography Office
Also present at the press conference were Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, State Sen. Robert Jackson (S.D. 31), Assemblymember Landon Dais (A.D. 77), and City Council Member Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14).
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg said of the latest appointment, “Dina Levy has long fought for safe and affordable housing both inside and outside of government, and I am thrilled to welcome her to the helm at HPD. Her experience spans the breadth of HPD’s mission, from affordable housing finance to organizing tenants and everything in between.” She added, “Dina will help deliver a more affordable city and ensure tenants and homeowners across the city are represented in our government.”
Meanwhile, as part of the Mamdani administration’s tenant protection efforts, the Mayor also signed an executive order directing HPD, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), the NYC Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, and the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), in coordination with the new NYC Office of Mass Engagement, to hold a series of “Rental Ripoff” hearings across the five boroughs within the first 100 days of the Mamdani administration.
At these hearings, he said working New Yorkers will be able to speak about the challenges they face from poor building conditions to hidden fees on rent payments. Following these hearings, he said his administration will publish a summary and report detailing common themes and areas of opportunity, and said the testimony shared at the hearings will directly inform policy interventions to take on such “ripoff tactics.” Details about the hearings can be found here: nyc.gov/RentalRipoff.
In the first week of his administration, Mamdani already passed an executive order rebuilding the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and appointed Cea Weaver, who he said was instrumental in the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, to lead it.
“For too long, tenants have been ripped off without recourse or protection. Our Rental Ripoff hearings will give working people across the five boroughs a microphone to highlight the challenges they face and make New York City government a truly participatory endeavor,” said Weaver. “By hearing from New Yorkers about the challenges they have faced, we can bring a comprehensive approach to address the shoddy conditions, hidden fees, and other rip-offs that have persisted until now.”
Bronx tenant leader at 1520 Sedgwick, Gloria Robinson, who also attended the press conference, welcomed the latest housing policy moves, including the appointment of Levy, saying in part, “We are so happy that the mayor has made preserving affordable housing his biggest priority, so other tenants don’t have to struggle like we did, and if Dina had our back, we know she has your back. And we appreciate you so much for having this beautiful person on your team.”
Meanwhile, tenant advocate and leader of CASA (Community Action for Safe Apartments) located in the southwest Bronx, Fitzroy A. Christian, who also spoke at the press conference. Christian also vowed to hold the mayor accountable for his promises to tenants.
“He [the new mayor] has come with a promise that we have been waiting for from our city leaders for a long long time,” said Christian. “We are not going to let him get away with empty promises. We are going to be fighting for him, and if he does not show up, we are going to be fighting against him. Because we want to live in dignity, and we want people to learn that when they make promises to tenants, they [have] to keep them. If you don’t keep them, you are going to face the consequences. Housing is a human right.”
Meanwhile, in other Hip Hop related news, The Bronx’s Universal Hip Hop Museum is expected to be finalized by the end of 2026, according to museum officials.
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.