The crowd was eager before Mayor Zohran Mamdani said a word. Hundreds packed the Hostos Community College auditorium on Thursday evening, many wearing hats that read “The Rent Is Too Damn High” in Mamdani’s trademark yellow and red.
The Students Rental Ripoff Hearing, hosted by More Perfect Union University, arrived two days after Mamdani’s administration released Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era.












