Soaring insurance costs and other financial pressures are hitting affordable housing hard — and it comes amid Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents for stabilized units.

A report from New York University’s Furman Center, first covered by Bloomberg , revealed the mounting operating costs faced by owners of the city’s most affordable rent-stabilized housing.

Insurance costs for rent-stabilized apartments grew a startling 150% between 2019 and 2025, according to the report. Operating costs, including maintenance and utilities, outpaced inflation.

The 16,600 buildings highlighted in the NYU report rely almost entirely on rent collected from stabilized units for operating income. Real estate experts have said Mamdani’s vow to freeze rents could result in deteriorated livin

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