Comptroller Mark Levines truth telling could make him the real anti-Mamdani

Someone must’ve slipped truth serum into the Municipal Building’s water, because city Comptroller Mark Levine’s rash of honesty is starting to make him seem like city government’s true anti-Mamdani.Levine, a Democrat who endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor, committed a brazen act of candor Sunday when he blasted New York rent laws for fueling the housing crisis.“We just have a shortage of supply of homes,” argued the comptroller.Yet “in rent-stabilized buildings, we have tens of thousands of apartments” sitting vacant because the laws make it too difficult for landlords to rent these units.“When an apartment becomes vacant” and needs “expensive renovations,” owners aren’t allowed “to raise their rent enough to cover the cost” — so they have to let them sit idle.Bingo.

It’s an utter no-brainer (we’ve often made that same point), yet city and state lawmakers insist on ignoring it.Good for Levine for demanding landlords get greater “flexibilities” to recover renovation costs.Kudos, too, for stating another housing truth: It “costs too damn much” to build new apartments in the city, thanks to local policies.Government “has so many rules and regulations,” grumbles Levine.He might’ve also noted that Mamdani’s rent freeze is driving vacancy rates ever lower, and market-rate rents ever higher — making it nearly impossible to find an affordable apartment.

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Never miss a story.But this isn’t the first time Levine has displayed anti-Zo frankness.In contrast to the mayor’s boasts that he closed a $12 billion budget gap, Levine warns the city is still spending more than it takes in and this year’s budget is “balanced” only with Band-Aid solutions, like one-time cash infusions and borrowing, that’ll create ever-bigger...