City Hall has turned over a tranche of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's emails and text messages as part of a lawsuit from landlords suing to stop a historic rent freeze, right before the freeze is set to go into effect Thursday. The landlords, represented by former Deputy Mayor (and wily rascal) Randy Mastro, are looking for evidence that the mayor or his staff improperly pressured the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze the rent—a core Mamdani campaign promise.
Manhattan state Supreme Court Judge Brendan T. Lantry approved the discovery request last week, giving Mastro and his team access to the mayor's "personal and work phones, emails, text messages, and messaging applications," and those of several staffers, according to a letter from Corporation Counsel Steven Banks to the judge.