CasaVoya Publishes 100-Day Housing Scorecard, Grades Mayor Mamdani a "C" on Housing Policy

New report finds rents at all-time highs and zero new hotels approved; warns rent freeze, property tax hike, and short-term rental ban undermine affordability

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, April 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- CasaVoya, the New York City vacation rental platform specializing in exclusive accommodations, today published "The Mamdani Housing Scorecard," a comprehensive 100-day review grading the new mayoral administration across five policy areas affecting housing supply, affordability, and visitor accommodation. The overall grade: C.

The report evaluates the administration's early record on permitting and bureaucracy reform (B+), housing construction and zoning (C+), hotel and hospitality supply (F), rent and housing affordability (D+), and fiscal policy and taxation (D). It finds that while Mayor Mamdani has moved quickly to establish task forces and pilot a new expedited land-use review process, his signature policies — a proposed four-year rent freeze, a threatened 9.5% property tax increase, and continued enforcement of the city's short-term rental ban — are working against the administration's own stated goal of making New York City more affordable.

"Mayor Mamdani inherited a genuine crisis: a 1.4% vacancy rate, rents at all-time highs, and a city that has built barely 13% of the housing it needs this decade," said Sasha Ramani, Board Member and AI Advisor at CasaVoya and author of the report. "You cannot freeze rents, raise property taxes, and ban short-term rentals while simultaneously asking the private sector to build 500,000 new homes. The math doesn't work."

The report acknowledges that 100 days is not enough time to solve a housing crisis decades in the making. But it is enough time to assess the direction of travel, and CasaVoya's assessment is that too many of the administration's early policy signals point in the wrong direction.

Among the report's key findings:

Rents have hit new records. Average Manhattan rents surged to an all-time high of $5,711 in January 2026. The mayor's response has been to stack the Rent Guidelines Board with five new appointees expected to freeze rents in June — a move economists warn will reduce housing supply and drive investment out of the city.

The 9.5% property tax threat is chilling investment. The mayor proposed a 9.5% property tax increase to close a $5.4 billion budget gap, drawing bipartisan opposition from the Council Speaker, Comptroller, and state legislators. Paired with the rent freeze, economists at the American Enterprise Institute have called it a "one-two wealth destruction punch."

Rent-stabilized housing is in financial freefall. Pinnacle Group's 5,200-unit portfolio was sold in bankruptcy for $451 million in January 2026. Community Preservation Corporation reports that 70% of Signature Bank's 35,000-unit rent-stabilized loan portfolio is in financial distress.

The city has no plan for World Cup accommodation. Zero new hotels have been approved since 2021. Hotel rooms are averaging $583 per night during the World Cup window — the highest of any host city. Business groups from all five boroughs have called for a temporary suspension of the short-term rental ban. The administration has not responded.

Local Law 18 continues to fail on its own terms. Rents have risen 5–8% since the ban took effect. Vacancy rates are unchanged. Hotel prices have surged 12.6% — triple the national increase.

The report credits the administration for launching the SPEED and LIFT task forces, piloting the city's first Expedited Land Use Review Procedure (ELURP), and proposing a $21 billion affordable housing plan at Sunnyside Yard. It identifies several reforms requiring no permission from Albany that the mayor could act on immediately, including adopting 90 unilateral permitting reforms from the Adams-era BLAST report, certifying dozens of ELURP projects by year-end, temporarily suspending LL18 enforcement during the World Cup, and withdrawing the property tax proposal. It also urges the mayor to advocate for Scaffold Law reform and comprehensive property tax modernization in Albany.

"This report reflects not hostility but impatience," said Ramani. "This author, like the vast majority of CasaVoya's host community, supported Mayor Mamdani's candidacy. We want him to succeed. But the housing crisis is too urgent for the administration to spend its political capital on rent freezes and tax threats when there is genuine low-hanging fruit within reach."

CasaVoya will publish an updated scorecard at the one-year mark. The full report is available at www.casavoya.com/mamdani-100-days.


About CasaVoya
CasaVoya (formerly ManhattanBNB) is a vacation rental platform that democratizes access to authentic, affordable travel experiences. Born in New York City's highly regulated rental market, CasaVoya operates as a trusted introduction service, connecting travelers directly with exclusive vacation rentals not listed on traditional booking platforms. The company has facilitated thousands of stays for guests from 22 countries, serving groups, families, and travelers seeking alternatives to hotels and cookie-cutter accommodations across New York City and other major global destinations. For more information, visit www.CasaVoya.com.

Alexander Lee
CasaVoya
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