Mamdani Targets Junk Fees and Hidden Charges in Two Executive Orders

Summary

Five days into his mayoralty, Zohran Mamdani signed two executive orders targeting deceptive business practices like junk fees or making it difficult to cancel a gym membership in an effort to make the city more affordable.“It is hard enough to live in New York City without having to worry all the time about whether you’re being ripped off,” Mr. Mamdani said on Monday at a news conference at an outdoor gym in Long Island City, Queens. “Our affordability agenda is also about an agenda of dignity, and there are few things more undignified than feeling taken advantage of by someone you are already paying.”Protecting consumers, including renters, appears be a large part of Mr. Mamdani’s early agenda as mayor. The actions of Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, appear so far to indicate a willingness to govern based on a leftist political agenda.Lina Khan, the co-chairwoman of Mr. Mamdani’s transition team and the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., recently led a committee that drew up more than a dozen executive actions Mr. Mamdani could take as mayor that would lower costs and protect workers and consumers.Last week, Mr. Mamdani announced that a member of his inner circle would head the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and that the city would intervene on behalf of tens of thousands of tenants in the bankruptcy case of a large landlord who put more than 5,000 apartments subject to rent regulation up for auction. On Saturday, the mayor signed an executive order that directed the city to hold so-called “rental rip-off” hearings in the first 100 days of his administration where tenants could testify about poor living conditions.“It’s terrific to see Mayor Mamdani get right to work challenging abusive practices that make everyday life even more expensive,” Ms. Khan said.Mr. Mamdani’s candidacy faced significant pushback from leaders in the business community who were worried by his call to raise taxes on corporations and...