Mamdani plans to use taxpayer dough to cut down some NYC landlords insurance costs

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday he wants to use taxpayer dough to cut insurance costs for some Big Apple landlords in a move to try to cool tensions with local building owners.City Hall plans to roll out a program for owners of buildings with affordable and rent-stabilized apartments – but was short on details surrounding the plan except that it would initially include 20,000 homes by 2027.Mamdani has had a somewhat confrontational relationship with landlords in his first months in office as he pushed a rent freeze for rent-control units — but he admitted Thursday landlords are also being crushed by rising costs.“This is one of the best long term, reliable solutions to lowering premiums by introducing a city-backed program that can operate with less overhead and access cheaper credit,” Mamdani said during a speech at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council Luncheon.“We will level the market,” Hizzoner added as City Hall stressed the price of insurance has tripled since 2017.The initiative would be run by a private operator, but the city would have a stake in the program and oversight as it competes with other marketplace insurers.The city would tap into tax dollars to back the insurance plan in an initial investment as a guarantor, though the Mamdani administration claimed the program would eventually be self-sustaining, officials said.City Hall did not reveal how much money could be thrown into the program or how the first 20,000 homes under the city policy would be selected.Up to 100,000 homes could use the city-backed policies by 2030, City Hall said.But the Democratic socialist insisted the plan could save the city between $500 and $700 million in capital funds over the next five years.Leila Bozong, the deputy mayor for housing and planning, told select news outlets during a briefing Wednesday – which The Post was excluded from – that when landlords of affordable housing fork over more in insurance payments, the city must spend more on...