Messages between Mamdani officials and Rent Guidelines Board released in rent freeze lawsuit

Right · 1Hundreds of texts and emails between top officials in Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration and the city's Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) were released as part of a lawsuit alleging unlawful collusion between the independent body and City Hall. 1 Right · 1The messages show the two sides communicated more than 100 times, but, according to the New York Post, they appear to lack an obvious smoking gun and largely depict routine conversations on scheduling and exchanges of city-generated data. 1 Right · 1Plaintiffs' attorney Randy Mastro wrote to the court that the contacts were "substantial" and "shocking" and showed "coordination and collaboration throughout the RGB's process", citing the 100-plus contacts and a "novel draft" cost-of-living presentation he said had never been used before. 1

Right · 1Real estate attorney Massimo D'Angelo, who represents private landlords, said the documents show "close, private coordination" but that some messages were "weaker than [Mastro's] letter makes it sound", adding that a deeper dive may reveal a smoking gun. The Post reports that past board members have said sharing city data is routine under earlier mayors. 1 Right · 1The city is trying to block a second stage of discovery, a full forensic imaging of phones and computers, saying it has produced everything and the scan would be invasive and unnecessary; such a scan could reveal any use of the Signal messaging app. No Signal messages have been produced so far, and City Hall has repeatedly declined to answer questions about its use, according to the Post. 1 Right · 2Manhattan Judge Brendan Lantry ordered the city to turn over communications between 13 City Hall officials, the mayor and the RGB; they were released Thursday, the day the new freeze on one- and two-year leases took effect. Reason describes the order as made "last month" with five days to comply, while the Post says "last week". 1 2

Right · 2Landlords originally filed the suit this summer in Staten Island to overturn the freeze on rent-stabilized units; a judge ruled it belonged in Manhattan. Reason dates the filing to July and says the plaintiffs argue the freeze was a prejudged, arbitrary outcome from a body legally required to weigh factors such as operating costs. 1 2 Right · 1Reason's author, who works at the Manhattan Institute (which backs an intervention in the case), argues that RGB data showing 2026 operating costs up 5.3 percent point toward an increase, that net operating income figures were flawed, and that six of nine board members were Mamdani appointees. The article says the messages show communications in the months before the freeze, though no direct orders from Mamdani officials to freeze rents. 2 Right · 1Reason also cites board member Chrstina Smyth, an Adams-era holdover who resigned hours before the final vote, saying: "This rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze. Everything since has been theater." The suit asks the court to find the decision arbitrary and capricious under state administrative law. 2