Zohran Mamdani’s Rent-Controlled Apartment Reportedly Renting Out With 35 Percent Mark-Up After Mayor-Elect Moves Out

Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized Queens apartment will cost the next tenant $800 more per month than the socialist lawmaker paid.

The one-bedroom Astoria unit is now commanding $3,100 per month, a 35 percent increase from the roughly $2,300 Mamdani paid during his seven-year tenancy, according to the New York Post.

The Democratic Socialists of America member benefited from “preferential rent,” a temporary discounted rate landlords sometimes offer to attract tenants in softer markets.

Mamdani will move into Gracie Mansion after his Jan. 1 swearing-in ceremony. (RELATED: Some Of Mamdani’s Radical Base ‘Already Seething’ At His Decisions)

“Isn’t that just the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York in a nutshell?” NYC Council Minority Leader Joanne Ariola told the NY Post. “A nepo baby leaves his under-market apartment for a mansion, the price gets jacked up for the next guy, and some ill-conceived legislation forces the landlords to make an off-market listing to avoid the fees ‘progressive’ policies shoved down their throats.”

Zohran Mamdani’s rent-stabilized Astoria apartment renting for 35% more than socialist lawmaker paid: ‘hypocrisy’ https://t.co/kaUkiQyqjg pic.twitter.com/xQ4KbB1Ubz

— New York Post (@nypost) December 27, 2025

The unit is being leased off-market, a practice that surged after the city’s Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act took effect in June. Mamdani lobbied for the controversial broker-fee ban as a state Assemblyman.

New listings on the Real Estate Board of New York’s Residential Listing Service dropped 77 percent since the law passed, according to real estate firm UrbanDigs.

“This is exactly what New Yorkers are sick of: politicians who benefit from housing arrangements while pushing policies that make rents higher and listings disappear for everyone else,” Queens Councilman Robert Holden told the outlet.