New York Construction Report staff writer
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed longtime housing advocate Dina Levy as commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, tasking her with executing an aggressive housing agenda focused on affordability, tenant protections and new construction.
Levy, who brings decades of experience in housing finance, tenant organizing and government, will oversee HPD’s work preserving rent-stabilized housing, financing and building new affordable homes, enforcing housing quality standards and connecting residents to housing resources.
“Dina Levy is an experienced and fearless housing leader,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the appointment. “She will fight to protect tenants and tackle our housing crisis head-on.”
Levy most recently served as senior vice-president of homeownership and community development at New York State Homes and Community Renewal, the state’s affordable housing agency. Her previous roles include senior advisor to the New York Attorney General and director of organizing at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, where she worked closely with tenants and community groups.
The announcement was made at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx, a historic apartment building where Levy led a successful tenant organizing campaign in 2010 that resulted in the replacement of a predatory equity investor with a more responsible landlord, with support from the city.
“I am honored to join the Mamdani administration and to help make New York City an affordable place to live,” Levy said. “My experience as a community organizer will continue to guide my work at HPD.”
Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg said Levy’s background aligns closely with HPD’s mission, citing her experience in affordable housing finance, tenant advocacy and government operations.
Alongside the appointment, Mamdani signed an executive order directing HPD, the Department of Buildings, the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to hold “Rental Ripoff” hearings across all five boroughs within the administration’s first 100 days.
The hearings will allow tenants to testify about issues such as unsafe building conditions and hidden or excessive fees associated with renting. The administration said the testimony will inform future enforcement and policy actions, with a public report to follow.
The moves build on early housing-related actions by the new administration, including the rebuilding of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and the appointment of Cea Weaver to lead it.
City officials said the combination of leadership changes and tenant-focused hearings signals a renewed emphasis on enforcement, affordability and accountability in New York City’s housing system, with implications for owners, developers and contractors working in the city’s residential market.
