Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. In 1644, a man named Paulo d'Angola was deeded land on the corner of Bleecker and Thompson, in what would later become Greenwich Village. He and 10 others were the first enslaved people brought to New York. And after 20 years of bondage, they had won their liberation. Property held a promise of dignity, stability and opportunity. Property was the physical proof of freedom. After the English took over New York City in 1664, they seized the land that belonged to him and his fellow freedmen. Centuries have passed, but still, d'Angola's story is no relic of history. It is one deeply familiar to too many in this city. I am talking about deed theft. Deed theft not only disproportionately robs Black and Brown New Yorkers of their homes, it also robs them of the stability that a home provides.
According to data from our Attorney General Letitia James' office, more than 3,500 deed theft complaints were filed in New York City, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens, between 2013 and 2023. Over the past few years, the issue has escalated, with 517 complaints registered in 2025 alone, more than three times the 149 lodged in 2023. There are a number of those in elected office who have led efforts to tackle this scourge. I want to commend my partners in government, Attorney General James, Council Member Chi Ossé [and] so many others who have joined us here today. I want to acknowledge leaders in our administration: our Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee; our CCHR Commissioner Christine Clarke; our Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; our Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez; our state senator of this district, Jabari Brisport; the Assembly member of this district, Stefani Zinerman; Assembly Member Landon Dais; leader of the People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, Evangeline Byars; L. Joy Williams from the New York State NAACP; faith leaders and advocates.
And I also want to thank those who are hosting us here today at the Brooklyn Bank. And I also want to thank Governor Hochul for making this issue a priority and for focusing on the issue of deed theft. Thanks to the efforts of Attorney General James and State Senator Zellnor Myrie, New York State finally made deed theft a crime in 2023. And I am also thankful to our Assembly Member Landon Dais for that legislation, a measure that I was also proud to support during my time in the state legislature. Yet we know that injustice persists.
That is why today I am proud to announce City Hall will lead that work through the creation of New York City's first-ever Office of Deed Theft Prevention. This office will be led by Peter White, a long-time supervising attorney for homeowner assistance at Access Justice Brooklyn. And this office will be housed in the Department of Finance, where Peter will write a new story of action. Over the past decade, Peter has protected homeowners from foreclosure, bankruptcy and deed theft in court. He has also dedicated his time to supporting homeowners via Know Your Rights workshops, foreclosure presentations and oath clinics. His work helping New Yorkers navigate what is often a predatory housing market will serve as the foundation for how he leads the Office of Deed Theft Prevention.
And Peter and his team will work closely across city agencies to build on the 2023 state reforms. I know in the past, City government has too often stood idly by while deed theft occurs rather than acting to prevent it. With Peter's leadership, we are bringing that era to an end. And we are ensuring that City government is doing its part to protect vulnerable homeowners. The Office of Deed Theft Prevention will coordinate closely with HPD and our city's Commission on Human Rights to educate homeowners across the five boroughs, particularly those in neighborhoods with the highest rates of predatory reverse redlining. And the team will work with the Homeowner Help Desk to provide resources and connect property owners to legal counsel and with the offices of the Attorney General and the district attorney to crack down on those committing deed theft.
To further support these efforts, the office will also be tasked with exploring legislation on the city and state levels to build on the work that is being done. We know deed theft is not the only thing pushing families out of their homes. There is also the tax lien sale. Before I ran for office, I worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor, helping New Yorkers on the tax lien sale list. I knocked on door after door in Queens, looking to speak to homeowners about their options to get off of what would be a fast track to foreclosure. No family should have to experience the anguish that those have felt to reckon with that kind of powerlessness.
To have to be faced with the prospect of paying off the entirety of their mortgage and losing their home because of a $5,000 water bill. That is why we have made the decision to pause the tax lien sale for the next six months. We have made that decision with the intention of undertaking a full review of the system with equity at the heart of it. And I want to thank all of my partners here at state levels, at city levels, at the county level and in the advocacy world for ensuring that this was an issue that was front of mind for so many.
Because this work, frankly, is long overdue. Over the past two decades, more than 200,000 Black New Yorkers have left New York City. That is a very real [and]very tangible exodus. Here in Bed-Stuy, it carries a particular pain. It is felt in storefronts shuttered. It is felt in restaurants that once bustled but now sit closed. It is felt in schools with fewer students. It is felt in churches with pews that are empty of its parishioners. City Hall will use the full extent of our power to protect those who have been left to struggle alone for so long. Because every New Yorker should be able to realize the benefits of their labor [and] of their investments.
Every New Yorker should be able to lead a dignified life in the home that they grew up in, in the city that they love. And we are going to look to utilize every tool to make that possible. Thank you. Now with that being said, I will say two additional things: one, we do have a longer program this morning. And I want you all to understand the reason for the length of that program is because of just how many people have been at the forefront of this fight. So, we will hear from a number of people over the course of this morning. We are going to begin with our new appointee of the Mayor's Office to Prevent Deed Theft, Peter White.
Peter White, Director, Office of Deed Theft Prevention: Thank you, everyone. First of all, thank you, Mayor Mamdani. I am deeply humbled by this appointment as director of the new Mayor's Office of Deed Theft Prevention. And I would like to start with a brief story.
[A] grandmother wakes up early in the morning to the sounds of her grandchildren preparing to leave to school. She puts on her robe to walk them down the stairs and out of the home like she does every morning. As her grandchildren cross the portal of their front door leading outside, they notice a peculiar piece of paper attached to the front door. They yell back to her, alerting her that something is there. She takes the sheet. It is a notice of eviction. “How can it be?” she thinks. She purchased the home 40 years ago and paid off the loan 10 years ago. She scans the page and sees the name of the alleged landlord. He's someone she knows, but she can't exactly put the face with the name. “Wait,” she thinks. This is the local handyman that did repairs on her home at a discounted rate. “I never signed my home over to him,” she says to herself. “But wait, I did sign a contract with him.” But it was so many papers, she just didn't quite know what she was signing. She can't exactly remember what she signed. She looks up in disbelief. Now, this is a story of a fictional homeowner, but it is like so many others I've witnessed over the last decade.
Situations like this one have stoked my dedication to deep theft prevention work. I will approach this position with the rigor and seriousness that it deserves to help preserve the homes of individuals like the person in my story. My fundamental goal is to make life better for New York City homeowners. This is something I have tried to do since the beginning of my legal career and has remained a guiding principle throughout my time working as an attorney at Access Justice Brooklyn. I will carry this same passion into my new role. This office will focus on three central tenets: number one, deed fraud identification; number two, deed fraud prevention; and number three, deed fraud correction and remediation.
I understand that deed theft is amorphous, pernicious and consistent in many working-class communities and neighborhoods of color in New York City. Scam prevention already has an ecosystem of outstanding attorneys and housing professionals that have assisted homeowners in their times of need. This office will serve to help coordinate and leverage those efforts. I'm excited and proud to work with our partners across city agencies and elected officials across the city and state, like so many that are here today, and we all want to help serve New Yorkers. Deed theft, along with its related fraud and scams, stands as a multifaceted issue that deserves an integrated approach.
The establishment of this office is not just a win for homeowners, but for those housing professionals that work every day tirelessly to ensure that their clients retain their core asset, their homes. Moreover, I intend to work with groups and organizations that promote economic stabilization and aging in place of senior citizens. Deed fraud has especially affected seniors, many of whom live in Brooklyn and Queens. Many potential scammers see these people as being the most vulnerable population in New York City, and we're going to try to help correct that. Many of my clients have been these people, in fact. They're our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles and our neighbors. I intend to develop and implement additional strategies to ensure their protection going forward. Thank you again for this opportunity to continue serving New Yorkers. I will do my best to make you proud.
Mayor Mamdani: Now please join me in welcoming our incredible Attorney General, Tish James.
New York Attorney General Letitia James: I want to thank the mayor, obviously, for focusing on deed theft, and of course I am thrilled that Peter White will be leading this office as director. The scourge of deed theft in New York City, and particularly in Central Brooklyn and in Southeast Queens, is a crisis. New Yorkers are already struggling to find affordable housing, and too many families, as we all know, have been pushed out. And I've sat with families who thought that they were secure — who did everything right — and then suddenly they found themselves fighting to keep the only home that they've ever known. I've seen the fear. I've seen the confusion. I've seen the heartbreak. And I will never accept a system where that kind of harm is allowed to continue.
We are witnessing a disturbing rise in the number of housing scams, particularly scams like deed theft, that target Black and Brown neighborhoods, homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods. Deed theft is a heartless crime in which scammers rob people of their homes without their knowledge. Fighting against illegal housing practices is not a new fight for me. When I was a member of the City Council, I worked to protect homeowners from predatory practices that put New Yorkers at risk of losing generational wealth. Let me say that again: generational wealth and stability. And that included action to suspend the tax lien sale. And I want to thank the mayor for engaging in pausing that program and doing an audit of that program, because we know that selling liens to private investors often put families on a fast track to losing their homes. And today, in addition to deed theft, we are seeing the rise of partition scams, where bad actors try to force homeowners to sell the property they've inherited, even when other family members are still alive. In all of these illegal practices, it's the same playbook. Confusion, often from people grieving the loss of a loved one, or oftentimes they prey upon senior citizens. They exploit the complexity of our legal system to kick families out of their homes and their communities. And for many New Yorkers, home ownership represents the pinnacle of years of hard work and sacrifice. It is the American dream. And that is why my office and so many of my colleagues, we've worked together to bring deed thieves and other housing scammers to justice.
And so, I was proud to join with State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assembly Member Landon Dais. They made deed theft a crime, and they gave my office and the office of the District Attorney Eric Gonzalez the criminal jurisdiction to prosecute it. The law, yes. The law empowers district attorneys all across the state of New York to go after deed theft. And it pauses eviction proceedings with a deed theft case that is pending so that families can stay in their homes and justice runs its course. It also extends the statute of limitations because too often victims of deed theft don't know that they've been victimized until years later. And when they're facing foreclosure or eviction, it's too late to bring charges. And that legislation fixes that problem. We have already indicted several individuals under the new criminal deed theft law, including a pair of scammers who stole the home of an elderly widow living in Kew Gardens Hills while she was receiving end-of-life hospice.
In the next few weeks, we will also be going to trial on a case in Harlem involving a brownstone, where the rightful owner of that brownstone was living in a homeless shelter. That brownstone was worth $3 million. And the scammers rented out that brownstone as if it was their own. We have also two ongoing investigations involving property here in Central Brooklyn. We've also passed a civil deed theft law sponsored by [Senator] Kavanagh and Assembly Member Weinstein that gives my office and the district attorneys the power to invalidate fraudulent deeds after we secure a conviction, returning properties to their rightful owners. And we returned a number of homes to their rightful owners in Southeast Queens. But I also want you to know that deed theft does not occur in isolation. It is tied to a broader web of predatory practices. Illegal evictions, deed theft and abusive partition practices force too many families out of their homes that they've owned for generations.
We saw the result of these scams on Wednesday, not too far from here. And that is why we established the Homeowner Protection Program as a result of settlements that we have achieved, where we've set aside funds for the purposes of free legal assistance for homeowners. And we thank the state legislature for adding additional funds for that. The state, in their budget — which we hopefully will pass soon — we've set aside $40 million for the state to support legal services. But that's not enough. More needs to be done. We must strengthen and expand, and I have been calling for this for six years: cease-and-desist designations in Community Board 3, 2, 17, and all of Central Brooklyn. And it's unfortunate that the state has not designated cease-and-desist zones as they are in parts of Queens, which are not communities of color. It's important that we designate this district as a cease-and-desist zone. And I want to thank Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman for leading this charge in Albany, and obviously all of us will be joining with her to make sure that that legislation is passed and that the governor signs that bill.
But even if that bill is not signed, the secretary of state today, today, with a pen, can just designate districts, particularly in Central Brooklyn, as cease-and-desist zones. In addition to that, we must expand legal access to legal representation. Anyone facing a foreclosure should have an attorney, period. Because we know that too many homeowners are being forced to navigate complex deed theft cases on their own, we need to take action to ensure homeowners facing foreclosure have that right to counsel.
Many New Yorkers still do not know about deed theft, and it's really critically important as I work with Mr. White, as we work together to host these deed theft education programs, as we go door-to-door, as we have done in the past, as we canvas the neighborhood, as we educate individuals about deed theft, and as we save homes in Central Brooklyn, Southeast Queens, and all over the state, because we are seeing deed theft in Buffalo, in Syracuse, and in parts of Hudson and on Long Island. We must put an end to deed theft. We must save homes. We must save generational wealth, and we must do it together. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you to our Attorney General for having been a leader in this for quite some time. I want to now call up our Council Member of this district, who has also been a champion when it comes to taking on deed theft, Council Member Chi Ossé.
Council Member Chi Ossé: Good morning, Bed-Stuy. I first and foremost want to thank Jude Bernard. He is the founder and owner of the Brooklyn Bank, the space that we are standing in here today. He has been a long-time advocate for homeowners' rights and on this issue of deed theft, so I really want to applaud Jude. Thank you to Mayor Mamdani. You know, can I be real for a second? I hate this narrative around this mayor not being a mayor for Black people. The last mayor was Black, and he didn't do crap on deed theft. So, I really want to acknowledge this mayor for taking a step and putting money where his mouth is and opening this office. We are about to take a major step in ending deed theft in New York City. Mayor, I want to appreciate your willingness to partner with me on this issue, as well as so many electeds and advocates that are in this room.
I'm sure you remember the countless phone calls and texts I had with you and your team on the campaign trail about the Office to Prevent Deed Theft, and today that promise is being fulfilled. There are many, many leaders who would rather not spend their political capital on something as complex as deed theft. But Mayor Mamdani, you and I both know that complexity is not an excuse for inaction. Complexity is a reason to pay attention and to use every lever of power we can to support those facing life and death decisions. And today we are doing exactly that. But most importantly, the People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft, for months you have been working sleepless nights, pushing, organizing, showing up. There has been real distrust between the coalition and the elected officials who are supposed to represent them. That is the truth. But we refuse to pass the buck to another generation. We refuse to let this crisis continue to unravel and go unchecked. It has taken time, but I'm proud of the trust we have built together. I'm proud to stand with a group of dedicated public servants who have stood and fought for this cause for some time.
And I want to specifically acknowledge Evangeline Byars and thank her for her advocacy. She has sacrificed so much for this cause. An MTA worker who, the moment she clocks out, is in the courthouse, on the ground, at the home of the deed theft victim, defending her neighbors in need when the government turned a blind eye. I am proud to represent Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. I am proud to represent Black homeowners, especially seniors, whose life's work built our neighborhoods into a cradle of culture and community. Families who did everything right, who believed in the promise of home ownership, and who are now being targeted by people who see their homes not as an opportunity for craven profit. My office has been working relentlessly with the mayor and his team to conceive the Office to Prevent Deed Theft, and you see here, what's happening right now, did not happen overnight.
This victory is the result of our pressure, advocacy and organizing. It is a testament to the mountains we can move when elected officials and the people they represent work together, and when people refuse to accept the status quo. Today, the City of New York is taking the necessary close look at deed theft that we need because the decades-long status quo is unacceptable. From 2014 to 2023, there were about 3,500 complaints of deed theft across the city, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens. And from 2023 to 2025, complaints to the Attorney General's Office increased by 240 percent. Let's call it what it is: an epidemic. And Central Brooklyn has become a war zone for solicitors, shady LLCs and bad actors who circle legacy homes like vultures. They exploit the confusion of the vulnerable. They steal not only property from the hands of homeowners, but their stability, history and generational wealth.
The Office to Prevent Deed Theft sends a clear message: New York will not allow homes to be stolen through paperwork and pressure or turned into speculative chips in someone else's portfolio. It is an illustration of local government's commitment to finally confront this crisis with the seriousness it demands. To protect homeowners to what it actually means to stand with Black and Brown communities. And to make clear that this city will not be a playground for those who exploit its people. Look, as a democratic socialist, I believe housing is a human right. And that belief includes the homeowners who built Black Brooklyn, where speculators now circle legacy homes like vultures.
We want to make homeownership possible for young people in a city where permanence is never guaranteed. If people can be scammed out of their deeds, why would the next generation ever take the risk of owning a home? We have to make sure our families can stay in these homes and pass them down. The families who against the odds manage to own a piece of this city and the generations coming up who deserve a real chance to ending this deed theft crisis once and for all.
For too long, some have tried to paint the left as indifferent to homeowners, but a core tenant to democratic socialism is fighting against the exploitation of working people, and homeowners are part of that. Protecting longtime New Yorkers from displacement is not a contradiction of progressive values — it is their extension. It is what it looks like to bridge the false divide between tenants and homeowners. The work of keeping people in their homes has never belonged to one ideology. It belongs to anyone willing to stand up for it. And so this, this today is a win, not for any one person, but for the people who refused to give up, for the advocates who pushed us, for the homeowners who have kept even when the system failed them time and time again, they continued to fight. And this is just the beginning. Thank you so much.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you, Chi. Thank you for your partnership in making today a reality. I want to call up our public advocate, Jumaane Williams.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams: Peace and blessings, everyone. Love and light to all. I think Chi said everything, but I didn't say it, so I'm going to repeat some of it. First of all, thank you, Chi, because I have always said we have to use all the tools available to us. And sometimes that is putting our body on the line, and that is what you did. So, thank you so much for that and raising this issue. Thank you to the mayor for stepping up. I know we've been working on this for a while and being able to announce this is amazing in this community at this time. So, thank you for that. Congratulations to our new head of the office, AG, all of the colleagues who have been working on this. Thank you, Jude, as well for what you've been doing as a business owner in this space that we are in.
So, as was mentioned, I don't know what you heard, but the left cares about homeowners and home ownership. And so, we need to start changing their stories. When you play it out today and you write the stories and you show it, let it be known that progressives — the left — we have always cared about home ownership. We encourage it and we want to continue to make sure that people have the ability to do that. And we also want to tear down, as was mentioned, the separation that often occurs between Black and Brown tenants and Black and Brown homeowners. There is so much in common to keep them both in their homes. Lastly, and I have some more remarks, it's not really lasting, but I want to just say thank you to the advocates, to the coalitions, who were told, “you're too loud,” “you're doing too much,” “this is not the right issue,” “this is not the right house,” “please don't do this,” “you're protesting wrong.” Thank you for not listening.
Thank you for pushing forward, because we always hear that when we're raising Black issues and it takes the courageous to continue. So, thank you so much for that, because as much as we should thank the elected officials for stepping up, we would not be here if you did not force us to be here. And that's what protest does. That's what happens when people get uncomfortable with protests. Change happens. There is nothing we care about in this country that has not happened because people push past folks saying stop. And again, I commend the mayor for establishing this office, an effort I'm proud to support and hopefully have helped inform. At a time when working families, particularly Black families, we cannot be afraid to name a thing a thing. Particularly, Black families are being forced out of our city by the affordability crisis. It's important now that we provide homeowners with the resources and information needed to combat unscrupulous actors and untenable situations. Again, thank you to the mayor, the AG, the CM, and everyone in this entire coalition.
New York is the most expensive it has ever been. The most expensive city in the country [and] one of the most expensive cities on the planet. And a recent study found that half of New Yorkers can't even meet the minimum cost of living here, largely driven by housing costs. For Black New Yorkers, home ownership is a dream and a goal that builds wealth, builds power [and] builds community. Through tireless work and sacrifice, thousands of New Yorkers in particular have purchased homes to provide security, invest in the future and build generation wealth. This country's history of racism and hatred has led to redlining, discriminatory lending and all of the other issues that we're speaking about today. We have to be clear about what got us here.
Everything has been trying to prevent Black homeowners from having homes and then trying to take it from them. When we had a recession, Black homeowners came in with the least wealth and lost the most. And we have to be able to name that. If we don't name it, we can't fix it. And that's been part of the problem. There are many threats to Black homeownership in New York City today, such as discrimination, as I mentioned; redlining; deed theft and gentrification. This is a generational fight for generational wealth and stability and one that we just have to win.
At a time when Black families are being forced out of New York City, it's important now that we provide Black homeowners with the resources and information needed to combat unscrupulous actors in untenable situations. I'm glad to join everyone here to secure our communities, the futures of families and their ability to build generational wealth. My kids, my children, my 17-year-old, [and] my four-year-old, their future is dependent on what we do today. So, this office, which I'm proud to have been a part of pushing, is incredible to create. And I want to be clear that we're talking about deed theft, but I want to talk about homes being taken and lost, whatever it is called, deed theft [or] foreclosure. I know we want to talk about the individual facts of the case that she was arrested on, but even in those facts, there was unscrupulous actors who were working to take this home from that homeowner. And so, we have to make sure it's all put in the same pot. And there [are] a lot of folks, not just Black homeowners, who are facing the threat of losing their homes. But I want to be clear, the preponderance of this, the massive amount [is] in Black communities, from Bed-Stuy to Flatbush to Southeast Queens.
You go on an auction day, any day you want, at the courthouse and see who's losing their homes. It is visible. And I believe that if it [weren’t] as visible and as Black as it was, we would have solved this problem. It always seems whenever there's a systemic issue, even if it allows legally for people to take things, it is always Black folks who are at the end of that. And that is a problem. And part of that problem is whenever we name it, we are told that we should not. And so, I'm thankful that this mayor is ignoring that and is pushing up and putting up the pillars that are needed so that everyone has what they need, including Black New Yorkers, [whom] we are losing in droves.
We want them to stay here. They are a fabric of this city, and we want to provide every ability for them to stay here. And homeownership is a part of that. And folks behind me, many people have been screaming for years that deed theft was occurring — that foreclosure is happening too much in the Black community. And people ignored it. So, I'm thankful for the advocates who said Black homeownership is worth saving and who fought past the noise. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm thankful for what the governor has done. But I also want to ask the governor to listen to what was asked. And the Secretary of State can right now do the cease and desist. There is no need to wait. None at all. Just do it. Thank you
Mayor Mamdani: Please join me in welcoming our state senator, a champion on this issue as well, State Senator Jabari Brisport.
New York State Senator Jabari Brisport: Good morning, Bed-Stuy. I'm State Senator Jabari Brisport, a proud son of Brooklyn and sponsor of the deed theft protection package in the New York State Legislature. I'm so grateful to Mayor Mamdani for setting up this office and for standing with us in this fight. I also want to thank the Stop Deed Theft Coalition for their years of amplifying this issue and fighting deed theft, including working with me to draft the deed theft protection package. Over the course of my life, I've seen my community turned into a feeding ground for an insatiable real estate industry. It treats our neighborhoods as nothing more than potential profit sources and it will stop at nothing to capture that profit.
This extreme commodification of our homes speeds up gentrification and incentivizes rampant deed theft. These cases are not the isolated actions of a few bad apples. They are part and product of the real estate industry's systematic displacement of Black people and other people of color from their homes. This industry funds armies of attorneys to wear us down while they buddy up to the housing court judges who decide our fates. It pours money into political campaigns to replace elected officials who stand up to it. Its lobbyists operate in the halls of power to shape laws that benefit them and block laws that would limit them. And when need be, it enlists the violent collusion of the NYPD, as Council Member Chi Ossé and many of our neighbors experienced on Wednesday. The end result is that when New Yorkers find themselves the target of a deed theft case, they're up against a system designed to make it easier for the industry to get away with dismantling our neighborhoods.
Like my neighbor, Ayisha Doyle, who's in court fighting a real estate company that claims it bought a 75 percent stake in her home. Under current law, deed thieves can register the purchase of a home without providing proof that they've actually paid the reported sale price to the homeowner. Or like my neighbor, Ray Cortez, who was targeted by a fraudster who took out a mortgage on his home. He didn't find out about this until about a decade later, and without adequate resources, he never had a chance to get justice.
Now he's being told by some LLC that he needs to leave his own home because of a statute of limitations that doesn't account for the realities of what happened. The deck is stacked against New Yorkers facing deed theft in far too many ways. Together, though, we can begin to change that. With the mayor's new Office of Deed Theft Prevention designed to tackle the problem from multiple angles and legislation to make prevention and restorative justice easier, we can protect our neighborhoods from exploitation. Thank you so much.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you, State Senator Brisport, and now please join me in welcoming our district attorney for the borough of Brooklyn, Eric Gonzalez.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez: All right, good morning, everyone, and I want to thank the mayor for convening us today. For so many families, a house is simply more than property. It's the stability, its [the] security, and it's often the main source of wealth that people will have late in their lives and the wealth that they want to pass on to their children. And so, when this home is taken through fraud and coercion and deception, the damage is devastating not just to that individual family, but as we've heard today, to entire communities. This past week, earlier in the week, I met with the People's Coalition to Stop Deed Fraud, and dozens of people came to the office. We were at Restoration Plaza here in Brooklyn and said the many, many ways that these homes were taken. And I think that is what the advocates have brought to the table, because for too long, deed theft was really a very simple formula.
The earlier versions of it were someone forged your signature on a deed, they filed it, and then later on, after the statute of limitations ran, they came and said to get out. But today we've learned that deed fraud is so much more complicated than simple forgery, the deceptive practices, there's predatory loaning, there [are] ways that people take these partition sales —there's so much, right? So, one of the great things that the Coalition to Stop Deed Fraud has done has really opened the eyes of New Yorkers, our elected officials and so many that are standing here today to figure out how do we stop this? And this is why I'm grateful to the mayor and congratulate you, Peter, on taking this. Because it does need a whole-of-government approach. My office has prosecuted folks for deed fraud.
In fact, over the last several years, we've prosecuted 73 homes that were stolen just this past January. We secured a conviction against a man who had stolen many, many homes, and we convicted him of stealing 11 homes. And because of that new law that our great AG talked about, the judge was able to return some of those homes back to the original owners. But it's not enough, because prosecuting these cases [is] incredibly hard. Why are they so hard to prosecute? Because often there [are] decades and years and years of litigation in civil court [and] housing court and by the time it gets to the prosecutor's offices, the statute of limitations has run out.
Courts have made determinations on ownership that are difficult to reverse. So, we need to do more. I am very grateful that we're going to come together and do this work. I testified in the City Council earlier this year about the need to fund deed fraud units in my office and really in all the DA's Offices to make sure that we have dedicated professionals who are able to help people. We recently created on my website a new portal; it's called HousingJusticeBrooklyn.com to help alert homeowners about the red flags. Because what we've seen in many of these cases [is] that there are red flags and patterns that, if they're detected earlier, can prevent these losses from happening.
There's a reason people are targeting central Brooklyn and Queens and brownstone neighborhoods, when many, many people fled the city, the people who bought these homes, invested [and] created beautiful communities and now they want, other people want the communities that they've built. And we have to make sure we continue to protect these homeowners. So, I'm going to do my part as district attorney and with our Attorney General to continue to investigate these cases and bring charges and hold people accountable. In the case I mentioned, the person that stole these homes got up to seven years imprisonment.
Now that's something, but that doesn't give solace to the people and the families who lost their homes to those crimes. So, we have to make sure that we're not just prosecuting cases, but we're doing the prevention and we're teaching people, and we're making sure that every homeowner has legal representation. Because when we've looked at these cases, quite honestly, people panic. And this is the last point that I want to make. Why has this been allowed to happen for so long? Because we've blamed the homeowners. “You fell behind. You didn't pay your bill. You signed this document. You did this.” And instead of understanding the crisis that they were in and trying to preserve their home for their families, we blamed them.
This new office to prevent deed fraud, my hope is that, in fact, instead of waiting for them to get in trouble, they'll have the resources to make sure that they can deal at arm's length with people who want to steal their homes. And this is common in fraud. The people who do this work wake up each and every morning thinking about how they are going to separate you from your assets. They're the bad actors, not the homeowners who ran into trouble. Thank you, mayor.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you. Now we have a few more elected officials, but before I turn to them, we've heard from a number here today speak about the importance of organizers, advocates [and] the coalition. And so, with that in mind, I want to bring up one of those very activists, Evangeline Byars
Evangeline Byars, Activist, The People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft: Good morning, everyone. So, I'm not used to having prepared remarks. I usually just speak from the gut. But today, I'm going to have prepared remarks. First, I want to thank Mayor Mamdani for keeping his campaign promise and taking bold action by opening the Office of Deed Theft Prevention. The creation of this office is a huge step forward for homeowners across New York City. And it gives real hope in what can often feel like a hopeless situation. For too many families, deed theft has meant silence, confusion, fear and watching everything they work for being taken right from under them.
The creation of this office tells victims that they are no longer fighting alone. It represents possibility, protections and a real path towards justice. I am Evangeline Byars of the People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft and today marks the dawning of a new day for homeowners who are victims of deed theft. As I stand before you today, families like Allman Charrington, a retired New York City Transit train dispatcher and [the] Hung family from Flushing, Queens, whose patriarch was an architect, are on my heart and mind. These families now face the devastating reality of losing generations of hard work and sacrifice in everything they work to build.
These are not just properties. These are family homes, memories, legacies and security. The people standing above me, the people with me today, represent families from across our city who are facing or have already faced the devastating reality of having their home snatched from under them through deed theft and mortgage fraud and unlawful displacement. Deed theft is one of the most underrepresented human rights crises in our city. While it disproportionately targets Black and Brown communities, it is a crime that affects everyone, especially working-class families and seniors, the most vulnerable among us. Deed theft primarily targets seniors, people who have spent their entire lives working, saving, paying taxes and building something they hope to pass down to their children. These families did everything right, and yet they still find themselves fighting to keep the very homes they rightfully own.
The People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft has encountered cases in all five boroughs of New York City and across the country. This is not isolated. It is systemic. Every month, nearly 1,500 families are pushed through housing court in New York City facing eviction and among them are homeowners who are victims of deed theft and mortgage fraud, fighting to stay in their homes they legally own. In 2025 alone, more than 500 deed theft complaints [were] reported [and] yet only a small number were fully investigated because of limited resources and lack of coordinated enforcement. The financial incentive behind deed theft is enormous due to the high value of real estate in New York City. When deed thieves steal property, they are often walking away with millions of dollars.
Fraudulent transfers are made, fake signatures are filed, shell companies are created [and] homes are sold out from under families. In many cases, these fraudulent transactions are even placed in the names of the victims themselves while taxes go unpaid. That means they are not only robbing families of their homes, [but] they are also robbing taxpayers and the entire communities. Deed theft is also violent. It is a violent crime. While it may not always begin with physical force, it ends in trauma, displacement, homelessness, broken families and in some cases, death. We have seen elders criminalized in their own homes. We have seen families locked out of properties they spent decades paying for.
We have seen communities destabilized by this greed. It is also a sophisticated and complex crime. It involves forged documents, fraudulent deeds, mortgage stamps, shell companies, legal manipulation and bad actors hiding behind loopholes in the system that are supposed to protect the people. This is why the People's Coalition to Stop Deed Theft exists: because too many families have been left to fight alone in silence and in shame [and] confusion while predators profit from their pain. We are here to say clearly, no more.
From homeowners to condo owners to apartment renters, this fight is all of our fight. Housing security is public safety. Protecting our homes means protecting our families, neighborhoods and our future. We look forward to working with the newly established Office of Deed Theft and Prevention and standing side by side with this administration to ensure that this office does not just exist on paper but becomes a real force for accountability, prevention and justice.
We stand ready to assist in every way possible with our on-the-ground experience, rapid response work, court support, direct advocacy and lived experience of families most impacted. No family left behind. We are stronger together and thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: Please join me in welcoming Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman.
Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman: Good morning, neighbors from Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights. For those of you who are coming today to support the efforts to end deed theft in the State of New York, I thank you for being here. I am here not only representing 130,000 people who live in the Vibrant 56, but I am here specifically at not only the invitation of the mayor, but [also] the women who are over the age of 62, who are African American [and] who have been the target of deed theft in this state. From Brooklyn to Buffalo, but specifically you are sitting right now [and] standing right now at ground zero for deed theft, and it is time for it to end.
What I know is that my community today is happy that the mayor is here and that law enforcement is here and members of the legislature are here. They are happy because this is what they've been begging for, for us all to come together on assignment to end this scourge in our community. I want to thank the mayor for the Office of Deed Theft Prevention. I want to thank Peter White for accepting the assignment to step up. There is [an] office room in my office for you to come [to], because this is ground zero and we need you here. We need you here hearing the stories and doing the work. And so, I thank the members of the legislature who joined me in writing legislation to make sure that this scourge goes away.
From the cease and desist, we have to get past this year, and I again want to thank the mayor for putting a halt on the tax lien sale, but Cordell Cleare, senator from Harlem, and I want [it] to be abolished. Please support that legislation as well. But let's be clear; let's be clear: everybody here in this room is on assignment. We need the legislature, we need the executive, we need law enforcement [and] we need the judiciary to be here today. We need Chief Judge Rowan Wilson to be here today. And I know this is going to seem a little odd, but we need the banks in the house too, or you all need to help us, and I'll tell you in a moment why that is: we need to establish a public bank in the State of New York so our community is no longer a red line.
[The] red line has not [gone] away. If you ask the richest person in Bed-Stuy, who has produced generational wealth, who owns a real estate company, but gives back in his community every single day, where did he go and get his PPP loan from during the pandemic? It was not from any of the seven banks that were on Fulton Street; no, it was from some small bank in the Southwest. So, the reason why this is happening is because this is a vibrant community, right? People didn't come to a blighted community and decide that they wanted to steal people's houses; they came where the generational wealth was built.
And so, these are people who every day go to work, then they come home and they open up their business because they want to have a vibrant community. And so, we are not blighted; we are rich with resources, but we are being targeted and we need everybody's help. And so, we have the people here to help; we need the judiciary; we need the banks to start investing in this community as per the Community Reinvestment Act mandate that exists [and] that they should be doing. But more important people, we need you. These are our neighbors. If somebody is on your block taking pictures of homes or trying to talk to or coerce one of our neighbors, I need you to step up. I need each and every one of you to step up.
Everybody has a role and we need to leave here today on assignment. Do you know what your assignment is? If you do not, please come and talk to me afterwards because we've got work to do together. We need you to push for these laws to be passed this year. We need you to support this office, right? We need to make sure that our local government is also in lockstep: [the] NYPD, the Mayor's Office, the Sheriff's Office, the Marshal's Office — everybody has to be working off the same script because the reason why these criminals have persisted is because they've been able to find the cracks in the armor. But we're here today to say the armor is strong. The mayor's leading this effort today, but each and every one of us needs to meet every single day after this until this is gone. Thank you.
Mayor Mamdani: We did acknowledgments before of a number of the elected officials we have. We've also been joined by Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest, who is also here with us. Now, earlier we were speaking about legislation that was passed in 2023 that allowed for the Attorney General and so many others to take action in the manner. I am thankful that we have the Assembly sponsor of that legislation, Assembly Member Landon Dais.
Assembly Member Landon Dais: Good morning. I'm Assembly Member Landon Dais from the [District] 77 from the South Bronx. Sometimes in today's political world, its social media, protests, rallies, organizers, all those who come together to create political change on complex issues. But sometimes that political change also occurs in a small room where there's no press, no cameras, no phones, but an Attorney General who convenes 15 members of the legislature and says, “We have a problem.” She gave us an assignment. She put up a map the size of this Jimi Hendrix picture, and it was red dots or heat maps of the deed theft. As I looked up, my eyes grew wide. I saw Hempstead, New York, where my dad's from. I saw Brooklyn, where my mom was from. I saw Harlem, where I spent a lot of time, where my parents currently live [and] are homeowners. I saw Mount Vernon, a place where I grew up as a teenager.
All the places that I knew from my family, including Syracuse, where my Uncle Chris lived — happy birthday, Uncle Chris. And I saw Syracuse on that map. So, from Long Island to the city, through across New York, deed theft has become a scourge upon our state. I looked at the Attorney General, and she made it clear that we had to do something. I want to thank the speaker, Carl Heastie, who entrusted a brand-new assemblyman, an attorney, to deal with a legislation that had so much at stake. That took a lot of trust from a leader that has a hard job. And I took that charge, because I understood how important it was. And I don't know, I'm sure, if he remembers, but I was sitting next to, in hearing A, next to a young, charismatic Assembly member from Queens, [at] the time we called [him] Z, but now we call him Mayor Mamdani. He was pitching me on free buses, and I said, “Hey, we also need to take care of deed theft.”
So, here was a proud New York State Democrat and a democratic socialist coming together and agreeing on two things. I agreed with him on the free buses, and he agreed with me on deed theft. Coalition and working together is how we make change, how we create progress, how we make a difference. So, one thing I want everyone to know here, the foundation was set by the Attorney General. Without her having that meeting, where there was no press, where there was no cameras, where there was no social media, the foundation for this office would not have been set.
I also stood next to her in Queens, when this crook stole a property from a woman dying from breast cancer. And that hit me. My mom's a three-time breast cancer survivor. That hit me right here. So, again, I'm proud to be a New York State Democrat standing up for the people of New York. I might represent the Bronx, but when you're in the Assembly, like Stefani said, we represent all New Yorkers. And when you have someone like the Attorney General who's going to set the stage and the foundation, when you have a mayor who's keeping his word into protecting those who've been hit back by deed theft, we are working together to create a better New York. My name is Landon Dais and thank you for your time.
Mayor Mamdani: Now, we've heard about the fact that deed theft is not simply even just a New York City issue. It's been described as Brooklyn to Buffalo. Happy birthday to Uncle Chris in Syracuse — he's in Chicago now, okay. We still extend the wishes. And we speak about a statewide leader. We know we have an incredible Attorney General, the best in the nation here with us. We also know that there is statewide leadership that is taking place outside of elected office. And so, to close us out here today, I want to call up the head of the NAACP, not just for New York City, but for the state of New York, L. Joy Williams.
L. Joy Williams, President, New York State NAACP Conference: Since I'm the last to speak, I'm going to try to be brief. But first, I want us to take a moment to really give the flowers to Evangeline and to the advocates who have been doing the work.
[Crowd claps.]
Y'all can do better than that. Sis, thank you. Thank you for the hours, for knocking the doors, for holding the hands of homeowners, for letting them cry on your shoulders, for doing the work that is necessary to bring us to this moment. And while it is not the end, because it is not completely over, thank you. And we recognize you and all of you who have continued to stand up and make this real change. Thank you so much. And you know, congratulations to Peter. You got a big job, but you're not alone. Just as the advocates and others are going to continue to be by your side, you've been empowered by the mayor and by the elected officials here today.
But from NAACP perspective as well, we view ourselves as partners in government. This is not something where government is dictating to us what we need and what we are supposed to do, but we are part of that effort. Too often the issues that are impacting Black communities are ignored in real time. And though everybody is aware of the predatory practice that are happening in our communities, whether it be the theft of property through racial violence, redlining, foreclosures, crooked landlords, tax lien sales, deed theft, the core problem is predatory capitalism. And government enables it when it does not immediately take action to prevent and criminalize these practices. These are the real criminals. People who sit and scheme to figure out, “How can I extract wealth from people?” It sounds like the original sin of slavery.
Today, through these actions, the mayor and the administration are signaling that government will no longer sit back and wait until afterwards. Wait until people are making money off the books about redlining. Wait until people are doing tours and speeches saying what the trauma has been to Black communities. But instead, we are going to set an apparatus in place to ensure that we deal with it in real time. This is incredibly important because it not only is having us be on the defense but empowering this office to also identify trends and predatory practices that will be tried tomorrow. Because the thing with predatory capitalism is once you knock down one [inaudible], they'll come up with new schemes for tomorrow. And so, it's incredibly important that we have government be responsive to our needs and not just make money on the back end. I sat in the city comptroller's office when we went through the foreclosure crisis where we had to rapidly come together to protect people then from the extraction of wealth from their homes.
I would also say that we also need to look at how law enforcement can respond differently and show up differently during this time. Is it necessary to have law enforcement show up in the way that we saw them show up on an eviction? Is it necessary? So, there are ways that we can look at best practice — just because it's always been done that way doesn't mean that that is the practice that we need to continue. In order to maintain and build thriving Black communities in New York and ensure that we aren't continuing to lose the Black families who invested in this city, invested in this state, we need to have responsive government.
We need government to respond to these issues in real time. This is but one of them. And thank you to the mayor. Thank you to all who are gathered here today to say that we are going to put forth a new way forward to respond in real time. And as I said in the beginning of your administration, mayor, I think the first time we talked, we talked about housing. And I thank you for being responsive. It's not flip-flopping to me when you respond to issues that people are bringing up, but I thank you for responding in that nature and we'll continue to work with your administration to respond to the needs of Black communities.
Question: Mayor, how big is the office going to be? Is Peter going to be able to hire people? And can you explain to New Yorkers why an office like this is necessary in the mayor's office when you already have all the district attorneys that have a deed theft unit? The Attorney General has a deed theft unit. Why do you need another it in the mayor’s office?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, I think you heard from a number of the other elected officials that this is both an issue where action is being taken and there is still so much more to be done. And so much of the action that's happening right now is responsive to incidents of deed theft. As you heard from our appointee Peter, what we are speaking about here is not just response but also prevention. A lot of the affirmative outreach to the very kinds of New Yorkers who tend to be the victims of deed theft across the city. So, in one, it is to empower acting before this becomes a crisis as opposed to simply after. The other is to cohere the efforts in City government into one place. This begins with Peter. This starts with our office. The funding that we have set aside right now is baseline funding. That funding in that office will grow as the work begins. But I'm incredibly thankful to him for taking this on.
Question: I wanted to ask: the NYPD typically responds to these evictions and carries them out. Is this office going to be working with the NYPD to make any changes? Are you planning on changing that when they go to enforce evictions, so that things don't boil over like we saw earlier this week?
Mayor Mamdani: This office will be working across City government. That includes not just in conversations with the NYPD, but also in conversations with the New York City Sheriff. Because as we know, these kinds of incidents, they do not fall within the portfolio of only one part of City government. And so, we need to ensure that the response also is not limiting itself in that way.
Question: Council Member Ossé has called for a moratorium on evictions in cases suspected, where there's suspected deep theft. Do you agree with that call? Do you want to see such a moratorium from the governor as well? And in terms of funding for the office, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read that it's $500,000. It's quite a bit less than the $10 million you promised during the campaign. What's up with that? Why is it so much less?
Mayor Mamdani: So, it's baselined in Fiscal Year 27 and beyond for $ 1 million, and then that will grow as Peter grows this office. We want this to be something that is really being led by him and for him to take the steps necessary, not just in terms of hiring, but also in determining the purview of the office as a whole. I'll say that part of his responsibility, as I mentioned earlier, will be to review legislation at the city and the state level. One of those things to be reviewed is exactly what you asked about. I think additionally, we've seen that this is going to require action at a legislative level. It's also going to require action also within the judiciary, and so that is also a place that they will follow up on.
Question: I was curious if you could comment on Chi Ossé’s arrest on Wednesday. The case that he was protesting, they even found that it was actually a dispute over property rather than an actual deed that happened. So, I'm curious, could you comment on why you're announcing this now? It seems to kind of have a connection to that. And have you spoken to the AG at all? Have you gone back and re-evaluated that case? What's your understanding of that case?
Mayor Mamdani: What I'll say first is while I wish that we could come up with a mayoral office and staff it and fund it in just a couple of days, the reality is that we've been working on this not just for weeks, but for months. And I think as you heard the Council Member mention himself, we worked on this even over the course of the campaign and putting this forward as a promise to New Yorkers. And so, we've been in conversation with other elected officials, including our Attorney General, but also the advocates who've made sure that deed theft is on the forefront of the minds of so many across the city about what it would look like to fulfill that campaign promise. When it comes to the specific case that you're bringing up, I'll leave the exact terminology, legal determination to those who are charged with the prosecution of it. But I would add that what horrifies so many is not just in that moment, but it's the fact that this is a glimpse into a much larger crisis that is affecting so many across not just Brooklyn, but frankly, New York City as a whole.
Question: I want to follow up on that question about Chi [Ossé’s] arrest. Have you seen the video? And also, you know, the councilman says that he was roughed up. He was thrown to the ground. You can see that in the video. He was also rubbed up in the car. I'm wondering, do you agree with him saying that the police handled him a little more roughly? And have you spoken to the police commissioner about their actions that day? Why isn't there, you know, a higher up, maybe a community affairs person involved?
Mayor Mamdani: So, you know, when I on Wednesday, I think I shared the fact that I had seen this video and that the video was very concerning to me. And one of the immediate next steps that I took was to speak with the police commissioner about the incident as a whole. And I'm frankly thankful not just for Council Member Ossé’s release, as well as the release of the others who were protesting there that day, but also of his being able to be present here today, because I know that the you know, he has mentioned also publicly that he's been diagnosed with a concussion as a result of that.
Question: On the topic of police conduct, Streetsblog reported yesterday that NYPD officer James Giovansanti on Staten Island has received 547 speeding and red-light tickets. He's paid them all. So, what is the city going to do or anything to address this habitually dangerous behavior by one of its officers? Do you think the officers should face discipline?
Mayor Mamdani: That behavior is unacceptable. And I say that because everyone, including those in law enforcement, must follow traffic laws across our city. And we are going to continue to have a conversation internally around what it looks like to follow through on that. But what I will say is that I do have an expectation that everyone employed by this city sets an example for what it looks like to act responsibly and in consideration with the safety of other New Yorkers.
Question: [Inaudible.]
Mayor Mamdani: This is part of a larger conversation that we're having.
Question: On topic, I'm just curious, you know, I think a lot of people in this room want to know, I think: [if] I've been a victim of deed theft, I’ve got this weird notice on my door [and] I go to your office. What exactly happens next? And then I have an off topic, I'm happy to wait, or ask it now.
Mayor Mamdani: So, we'll go with the on first. The point of this office is also to have a place where New Yorkers can go when they don't know where else to go to, because so often, it is incredibly difficult to know exactly what jurisdiction, what issue is falling within. So this is an office that will not only work alongside the kinds of partners we've seen here, partners not just at the legislative level, but also when it comes to the district attorney, when it comes to the Attorney General, those who are adjudicating what is being classified as what. Secondly, this office is also going to be serving as a partner with a lot of the community-based organizations that have been providing the legal assistance for New Yorkers who are facing this threat. You know, I say that as someone who, in a prior life, I was a foreclosure prevention housing counselor. My work was to go out there and knock on the doors of those who were facing the property tax lien. This is going to be an office that takes that kind of a proactive approach. I know you had an off topic as well.
Question: Yeah, I was just hoping, and I know you put out a social media video which your team released during this announcement, but I was hoping you could better explain on camera your decision to let one of the bills go into law and your decision to veto the other. Why split the baby there? Why make the decision that you did?
Mayor Mamdani: So, I appreciate the question. There are two key differences between these pieces of legislation. The first piece of legislation, which applies to houses of worship, is a piece of legislation that when it was originally introduced, it had with it constitutional concerns. The final version of the legislation as it was passed was narrower in scope and in effect. This was legislation that would require the NYPD to write down the policies they have in responding to protests at houses of worship. At the final time of its passage, it does not have those constitutional concerns, and though I disagree with its framing of all protests as a security concern, I don't have those concerns any longer, and so I made the decision to let it lapse.
The second piece of legislation, which applies to institutions of education, does continue to have those constitutional concerns, and it carries them because, unlike in the first piece of legislation, which is balancing the right to protest and the right to prayer — both of which are not just sacrosanct in our city, but also constitutionally — the second does not have a counterbalance to the right to protest. It opens itself up to those constitutional concerns, and it also defines educational institutions in such a broad manner that it includes museums, libraries, teaching hospitals, things of that nature, which is part of the reason why nearly a dozen unions raised the alarm in opposition to this legislation alongside reproductive rights groups and immigrant advocates amongst other New Yorkers. And those unions specifically raised their concern in the impact this would have on their ability to organize. With all of that being considered, I then made the decision to veto the second bill.
Question: I think you should have a chance to respond to this because it's out there. Apparently, Ken Griffin is upset that you've made him the poster boy for the super-rich. Griffin's chief operating officer raised the possibility now that the company might not move forward with a massive new Midtown construction project. What is your response to that? Are you concerned? If not, why?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, I want New Yorkers to succeed. I want them to build businesses, to grow our economy, and to create good-paying jobs, and Ken Griffin has been a part of that. He's an important employer and business leader in our city, and as I do with every New Yorker, I do want him to succeed. As mayor, I will continue to work with business leaders, including Mr. Griffin, as partners in building a city that continues to be the economic engine not just of this state, but also of this country, and none of that negates the fact that we have a tax system that is fundamentally broken and one that is part of the reason why we live in both the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and also a city where one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty.
Question: [Inaudible] he is going to move out?
Mayor Mamdani: I am excited at what we have to come here in New York City, and I'm excited to build it with business leaders, and that includes Mr. Griffin.
Question: I want to follow up on Ken Griffin. Do you have any regrets about putting him at the forefront of that video? And then also, would you take a call or a meeting with him if he wanted to speak with you on the future of the city and his future in the city?
Mayor Mamdani: Absolutely. I would be happy to speak with Mr. Griffin, as I'd be happy to speak with many business leaders across this city, and the reason for that is that no matter any disagreement around fiscal policy and whether or not the state should tax secondary homes of non-resident New Yorkers that are worth more than $5 million, we all believe in the same city. We all want this city to succeed, and that is something that I'm committed to no matter a question of unanimity on every single political issue.
Question: [Would] you reach out to him as he reached out to you, and then also, any regrets on the video?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, I think we're in a moment where New Yorkers are facing a generational fiscal crisis. This is a fiscal crisis greater than that of the 2008 financial crisis, and it is not one that is being mirrored elsewhere across the state or the country. This is one that was created by City Hall. And when we face that kind of a fiscal crisis, there is every pressure to put the resolution of it on the backs of working and middle-class New Yorkers. I am intent, however, on balancing this budget in a manner that asks the wealthiest and the most profitable corporations to pay that a little bit more so that everyone can afford to live in the city. And that means Ken Griffin, and that means so many others across the city, and that also means those who would love to join us in this city.
Question: I wanted to follow up on Ken Griffin as well. So, I’ve spoken to some people in the business community who felt that video, because you're standing in front of one of his homes, you're calling him out, that it sort of crossed the line in terms that you were personalizing it, and in this environment, politics is very polarized. Some people were thinking about the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was assassinated. Do you have any regrets about doing that? I noticed that the day after you did the video, you did not invoke his name again. You gave some other examples, but do you regret doing that video?
Mayor Mamdani: That home, when it was purchased, was the most expensive home in the United States of America. It was publicly reported, and it was described as such, and in a political environment where there is always an attempt to describe any increase in taxes as if it would be one that would apply to all, we wanted to make very clear that this applies to a very select group of properties. And the reason that I gave other examples of this is that this piece of legislation is not motivated by any one individual. Rather, it is one that applies broadly, without exemption. And so, the next day, I spoke about a Saudi prince who bought an apartment for $90 million, a Russian auto dealer who bought an apartment for close to $30 million in cash. I say these things not because I do not want these individuals to be here in New York City or to purchase property in New York City, but rather to outline that we are talking about a proposal that will have a very narrow impact and one that is being driven by an intention to ensure that everyone can remain in the city, including those that are taxed by it. Thank you so much.
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