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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Sunday the appointment of Dina Levy as the new Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Levy, previously a senior official at New York State's affordable housing agency, brings extensive experience in housing advocacy to her new role.
Levy's appointment was announced at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, a location significant for its history in affordable housing and as the birthplace of hip-hop. During her tenure at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, Levy successfully organized a campaign to replace a predatory equity investor with a more responsible landlord at this site.
Mayor Mamdani praised Levy as a "fearless housing leader" who will be instrumental in executing the administration's ambitious housing agenda. This includes preserving rent-stabilized housing, financing new affordable housing, and ensuring the habitability of all homes in New York. Levy emphasized the need for "sometimes scary innovations" and a willingness to rethink current practices to address the city's housing crisis.
In addition to Levy's appointment, Mamdani signed an executive order directing city agencies to hold "Rental Ripoff" hearings across the five boroughs. These hearings aim to give tenants a platform to discuss landlord abuses and poor building conditions. The administration plans to publish a report summarizing the findings from these hearings, which will inform future policy interventions.
Levy will oversee a $1.6 billion agency that constructed or preserved over 28,000 apartments in the last fiscal year. The agency is crucial to Mamdani's goal of building 200,000 new affordable units in the next decade, a plan that requires state approval to increase the city's borrowing limits.
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