New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani chose a troubled Bronx apartment complex to spotlight his new Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) commissioner, only for the building’s dismal condition to steal the show.
The issue has sparked debate over whether the administration’s focus on nonprofit-managed housing is delivering real results for tenants.
On January 4, 2026, Mamdani visited 1520 Sedgwick Ave., a 102-unit affordable housing complex in Morris Heights, Bronx, to introduce Dina Levy as the new HPD commissioner, praising her as a tenants’ rights advocate; yet, as of January 10, 2026, the building carries 194 unresolved housing-code violations, including 88 deemed immediately hazardous, such as rodent infestations and mold.
Levy, 54, brings decades of advocacy to her $277,605-a-year role, including a 2011 deal that saw the nonprofit Workforce Housing Advisors acquire the Sedgwick Avenue property with a $5.6 million HPD loan to keep rents affordable. But tenants like Mordistine Alexander, a 49-year-old resident since 1999, paint a grim picture of crumbling facilities and unresponsive management. Her complaints of no heat, rodent issues, and broken fixtures seem to fall on deaf ears, according to the New York Post.
“Since [the nonprofit] took over, the building has deteriorated,” Alexander told The Post. “They lack porters.”
Here’s the rub: while Mamdani touts nonprofit oversight as the future of affordable housing, this building has more violations than roughly three-quarters of privately owned, rent-stabilized properties in the city. Tenants even report that conditions were better under the previous private landlord.
Compare that to 85 Clarkson Ave. in Brooklyn, a privately owned complex that Mamdani criticized just days earlier on January 1, 2026, for issues in subsidized housing. Sedgwick Avenue has more than double the dangerous violations of that 71-unit property. If this is the showcase for Levy’s talents, one wonders what the failures look like.
“Dina will no longer be petitioning HPD from the outside,” Mamdani declared during the reveal. “She will now be leading it from the inside.” Noble words, but with 88 life-threatening violations staring back, the transformation he promises feels more like a pipe dream.
Levy’s background as a Delaware University grad and daughter of high-powered DC lawyers from affluent Maplewood, NJ, contrasts sharply with the gritty reality at Sedgwick Avenue. Her passion for tenants’ rights, including a 1997 arrest for trespassing at a Dallas housing complex, shows commitment, but passion alone doesn’t fix broken refrigerators or moldy walls.
HPD spokesman Matt Rauschenbach insists the building is undergoing an $8 million renovation to improve conditions. That’s a hefty sum, but when will tenants see results? Meanwhile, they’re stuck with rats and no hot water.
Critics point out that nonprofit-managed properties often enjoy government loans and tax breaks, yet still rack up violations. As former Bronx assemblyman Kenny Burgos noted, these groups should have more resources to maintain buildings efficiently. Instead, good intentions seem buried under bureaucratic neglect.
Mamdani’s broader agenda includes legislation to curb private property sales in favor of nonprofit control. It’s a lofty goal, but if Sedgwick Avenue is the poster child, it’s hard to see this as anything but a risky experiment on vulnerable residents.
Levy herself has boasted about her confrontational style with landlords, a tactic that might energize activists but leaves questions about pragmatic solutions. With nearly 200 violations lingering since 2016, confrontation alone won’t patch the holes—literal or figurative—in this system.
The irony isn’t lost on observers like Councilwoman Joann Ariola, who called out the double standard of praising nonprofits while their buildings crumble. Taxpayer dollars prop up these groups, yet the results often look worse than private management. It’s a bitter pill for tenants who just want a safe home.
