Mayor Mamdani Signs EO to Revitalize Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and Appoints Cea Weaver as Director

 

With rent due on Jan 1, Mayor Mamdani rolls out major housing initiatives to protect tenants, crack down on negligent landlords, and build more homes

Mayor Mamdani also signed executive orders creating SPEED & LIFT Task Forces to encourage housing construction on city-owned land & cut red tape to help New Yorkers find homes faster

Nationally recognized tenant organizer, Weaver has won major victories for tenants & helped close landlord loopholes used to jack up rents

TODAY, on his very first day as Mayor of New York City, Mayor of New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed three executive orders to confront the city’s housing crisis: revitalizing the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and establishing two new task forces to accelerate housing construction, get New Yorkers into homes faster, and increase supply by identifying suitable city-owned properties. The Mayor also announced the appointment of nationally recognized tenant organizer and housing advocate Cea Weaver as Director of the newly revitalized Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. 

The revitalized Office to Protect Tenants will serve as a central coordinating body to defend tenants’ rights, stand up to landlords, and ensure city agencies act swiftly on behalf of renters facing unsafe or illegal conditions.

Weaver currently serves as Executive Director of Housing Justice for All and the New York State Tenant Bloc. She played a pivotal role in securing passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, landmark legislation that closed loopholes allowing landlords to dramatically raise rents and deregulate rent-stabilized apartments. 

On her very first day in office, Weaver joined Mayor Mamdani to announce the Mayor’s first major action of his administration; intervening in the bankruptcy proceedings of Pinnacle Realty, a landlord responsible for more than 5,000 housing violations, 14,000 complaints across 83 buildings, and money owed to the City of New York. New York City will take action to seek immediate relief and improve living conditions for Pinnacle tenants, an unprecedented step on behalf of renters living in some of the city’s most neglected buildings. 

Mayor Mamdani has directed his Corporation Counsel nominee, Steve Banks, to take precedent-setting action in the Bankruptcy Court to protect the renters of this building and the thousands of other renters across New York Cityscape in similar state. The Mayor is a creditor and interested party: the City is owed money that Pinnacle never paid, and will fight for New Yorkers interests to safe and habitable homes. In doing so, the Mayor will protect tenants already long-neglected from further neglect, as well as mitigate significant risk of displacement they currently face

Mayor Mamdani announced the appointment and signed the executive orders at the very Pinnacle-owned building where he is intervening. While there, he toured an apartment that revealed the consequences of Pinnacle’s negligence — broken walls, torn flooring, and a failure to provide heat. Too many New Yorkers are forced to live in conditions like these, while landlords escape accountability. On his first day in office, Mayor Mamdani made clear that protecting tenants will be a priority of his administration.

In addition to revitalizing the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, Mayor Mamdani signed two executive orders establishing new housing task forces:

• LIFT Task Force (Land Inventory Fast Track) will leverage city-owned land to accelerate housing development, increase supply, and drive down costs. The task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1, 2026. LIFT will be overseen by Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg.

• The SPEED Task Force (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) will identify and remove bureaucratic and permitting barriers that drive up costs and slow housing construction and lease-up, making it more affordable to build and easier to access housing across New York City. The task force will be overseen by Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning, and Julia Kerson, Deputy Mayor of Operations.

“Today, on the first day of this new administration, on the day where so many rent payments are due, we will not wait to deliver action. We will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “You cannot hold landlords who violate the law to account unless you have a proven principled and tireless fighter at the helm. That is why I am proud today to announce my friend Cea Weaver as the Director of the newly reinvigorated Mayor's office to protect tenants.” 

“I am humbled and honored to join Mayor Mamdani’s administration — and to stand with him on his very first day in office as he makes clear where his priorities lie: with the millions of tenants in New York City who have been mistreated for too long by negligent landlords,” said Director of the Mayor’s Office of to Protect Tenants Cea Weaver. “Our work will only grow and this newly revitalized office marks a new era of standing up for tenants and fighting for safe, stable, and affordable homes.” 

“Today’s executive orders signal this administration’s clear-eyed focus on standing up for and addressing housing quality for tenants, aggressively taking on the bureaucracy that hampers housing access, and leveraging city-owned properties to increase our supply of affordable housing,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg. “Cea Weaver is a powerhouse for tenants rights — winning major victories for tenants across the city and state — I’m excited to see the innovation she brings to this new role.”

“Cea Weaver led the New York tenant movement through a historic surge in power, winning some of the strongest tenant protections in the country in under a decade.From organizing tenant unions to going toe to toe with the real estate lobby in Albany, she knows how to fight the exploitation of tenants — and win,” said Sumathy Kumar, Managing Director of Housing Justice for All. “Tenants are the majority in New York, and we couldn’t have a stronger partner in the administration to deliver the rent freeze New Yorkers voted for, hold landlords accountable, and win safe, stable homes for all.”

“Cea Weaver is an extraordinary leader who is incredibly thoughtful, strategic, and deeply grounded in the lived realities of tenants across New York City. Her integrity and commitment have shaped the tenant movement in powerful ways, including her vision and leadership of the Tenant Bloc this past year,” said Joanne Grell, Rent Freeze Campaign Chair of NYS Tenant Bloc. “I am confident that under her leadership, the Office of Tenant Protections will grow into its fullest potential and become an even stronger force for tenants. Cea’s appointment makes clear that Mayor Mamdani is serious about following through on his commitment to protect tenants and keep New York City affordable!”