Mayor Zohran Mamdani Signs Executive To Protect Tenants
by Kandiss Edwards
January 2, 2026
Zohran Mamdani’s first order of business is to protect the city’s tenants.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a series of executive orders on Jan. 1 aimed at confronting the city’s longstanding housing crisis and strengthening protections for renters, city officials said.
The orders announced on Mamdani’s first full day in office reflect a sharp policy shift from the prior Mayor Eric Adams administration.
The new vision focuses on tenant rights and expanding affordable housing. Mamdani, New York City’s 112th mayor. Among the measures he signed were orders to revitalize the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and create new task forces to expedite housing development. The Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants will serve as a central coordinating body to defend renters’ rights, monitor unsafe or unlawful housing conditions, and ensure that agencies act promptly on behalf of tenants facing hazardous living situations.
“Today, on the first day of this new administration, on the day when 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.”
In addition to housing-related orders, Mamdani signed directives affecting City Hall operations, including revoking most executive orders issued by his predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams, after Adams was indicted in 2024 on federal corruption charges that were later dropped.
The move signaled a fresh start in administration and enabled Mamdani to reset the policy agenda.
Cea Weaver, a nationally recognized tenant organizer who helped lead the passage of New York’s 2019 tenant protection laws, was appointed as the office’s director. Two new task forces were established: the Land Inventory Fast Track (LIFT) Task Force, which will review city-owned properties and identify sites for potential housing development, and the Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development (SPEED) Task Force.
The forces will work to dismantle bureaucratic and permitting barriers that slow housing construction and increase costs.
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