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Mamdani turns to state official to lead NYC's housing agency
By
David Brand
Published Jan 4, 2026
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By
David Brand
Published Jan 4, 2026
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani is turning to a high-ranking state official to lead New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Gothamist has learned.
Mamdani will name Dina Levy as HPD commissioner, according to four people familiar with the decision and confirmed by the mayor’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec. Levy currently serves as senior vice president of single family and community development at New York’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal, the state’s housing agency. In that role, she has overseen the state’s mortgage agency, managed state and federal housing grants, and shepherded a low-cost manufactured homes program upstate.
She previously worked in the attorney general’s office and for the nonprofit Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, or UHAB.
Levy declined to comment when contacted by Gothamist.
In a written statement, Mamdani said Levy “is an experienced and fearless housing leader, and I know that she will fight to protect tenants and tackle our housing crisis head on."
Levy will take over the city’s housing agency as the five boroughs face a historic housing crisis that is especially dire for low-income New Yorkers. Less than 1% of apartments priced below $2,400 a month are vacant, according to the city’s most recent housing survey. The city’s overall vacancy rate is just 1.4%, the survey found.
HPD controls an over $2 billion budget. It finances new income-restricted housing developments, runs the city’s affordable housing lottery and administers a federal rental assistance program for thousands of households. The agency also funds the preservation of existing affordable units, penalizes landlords who fail to make repairs and employs hundreds of inspectors who enforce the city’s housing codes — key priorities of Mamdani’s on the campaign trail and in his first week as mayor.
Levy will replace acting HPD Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, whom Mamdani named buildings commissioner late last month.
Under Mayor Eric Adams, the agency financed an increasing number of affordable units — defined as apartments with rents capped for low- and middle-income tenants — but faced criticism for failing to work through a lengthy backlog of development applications and for bureaucratic delays in the housing lottery process.
Changes could be on the horizon.
The agency now has new tools to fuel development, including a sweeping package of land use changes known as the City of Yes plan that allows for larger construction and includes a square footage bonus for developers that make more units affordable. In November, voters also approved a suite of reforms meant to fast-track the construction of affordable housing.
Last year, HPD financed the construction of about 13,200 new affordable housing units and the preservation of roughly 15,000 more, according to city data.
Since the start of 2024, the city added about 66,000 new homes for all income levels, according to a December 2025 report from the Real Estate Board of New York. The rate of construction was not enough to meet the need for new housing or Adams’ goal of 500,000 new homes over the next decade, the lobbying group said.
Mamdani has touted his own goal of constructing 200,000 affordable apartments for low- and middle-income New Yorkers over the next 10 years.
Mamdani is also set to announce Sunday that he signed an executive order directing city agencies to hold hearings that allow tenants to share their negative experiences, his office said. Mamdani is calling these “rental ripoff” hearings and said they will form the basis of a report on conditions facing tenants citywide.
John Crotty, founder of the affordable housing developer Workforce Housing Group, said Levy was instrumental in a deal to preserve low-income housing at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, an apartment building that is regarded as the birthplace of hip-hop.
“She is aware of the issues facing tenants and the issues facing housing developers,” said Crotty, who now leads the insurance collective Milford Street Association. “She’s very good at fixing problems and she is going to deliver meaningful results for New Yorkers.”
Oksana Mironova, a housing policy analyst with the Community Service Society, called the appointment of Levy “great news” and praised her efforts at the attorney general office to negotiate settlements with banks that fueled the mortgage and foreclosure crisis.
“She is a really strategic pick both because she has government experience and organizing bona fides,” Mironova said.
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Politics
housing
new york city
David Brand
David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 908-310-3960.
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