A New York judge has ordered officials from City Hall and the Rent Guidelines Board to hand over their personal and work cell phones and email accounts for a search. The order comes as part of a lawsuit challenging the city’s rent freeze. The legal action aims to find evidence that the decision-making process was fixed. The full search could take weeks, potentially pushing the case past October 1, when the rent freeze is set to take effect.
Rent increases paused pending investigation
Judge Brendan Lantry ruled at a hearing Thursday that landlords will not be able to increase rents while the case is being resolved. Lantry said he lacks the authority to extend last year’s allowable increase of 3 percent during the litigation. “I’m not going to operate with a shotgun to my head,” he said. “Perhaps there will be a decision before Oct. 1. There may not be a decision before Oct. 1.”
Lawyers for the landlords had asked for a quicker timeline for the document production. The city’s legal team argued that the current schedule was already too tight. The collection process involves a vendor taking a phone for up to eight hours to process its data into something readable. The city has until Tuesday to provide screenshots of communications from email, text messages, and messaging platforms like Signal.
The list of officials whose devices will be searched is extensive. It includes high-ranking staff at City Hall and the mayor’s office. The relevant staff identified in court filings include first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan, deputy mayor for economic justice Julie Su, and deputy mayor for housing and planning Leila Bozorg. Chief of staff Elle Bisgaard-Church and Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants Cea Weaver are also on the list.
Scope of the search expands to board members
Any communications between City Hall and the Rent Guidelines Board will be collected and turned over to the judge and the attorneys representing the landlords. This data could offer a glimpse into how the board arrived at its decision. In addition to the city staff, nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board and its four staff members must turn over their devices.
The city stated that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s emails had already been searched for communications with the Rent Guidelines Board staff and members. Steven Banks, who leads the city’s law office, said the process is not insignificant. “The people on this list are running New York City,” he said. “Giving up their phone for four to eight hours … is not an insignificant thing.”
Salaries and other local news
Separately, the city’s law department attorney salaries range from $87,737 to $180,791, according to a city website. Elsewhere in the news, City Council Members Chi Ossé, Alexa Avilés, Jennifer Gutiérrez, and Emily Gallagher were arrested in Manhattan Thursday for blocking the street in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations.
The protest was organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace. In a separate development, the city announced it will provide 70,000 free tickets to the Metropolitan Opera for New Yorkers who have never attended. The group Co-ops and Condos United has been lobbying against Local Law 97, which requires large buildings to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Closing timeResidential: The most expensive residential sale recorded Thursday was $8.1 million for a 2,671-square-foot, sponsor-sale condominium at 255 East 77th Street on the Upper East Side. Commercial: The most expensive commercial transaction was $11.75 million for a 72-unit apartment building at 10 Park Terrace East in Inwood. New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market is $17.5 million for a 3,836-square-foot condominium at The Flatiron Building, 175 Fifth Avenue.
