Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Randy Mastro | Attorney Using the Courtroom to Fight Back Against Madmani's Socialist Policies

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Randy Mastro | Attorney Using the Courtroom to Fight Back Against Madmani's Socialist Policies · Sid & Friends In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So the city goes out there and they notify 17,000
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: people that we're basically coming after you. I love what
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Randy Mastro said to this Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzie
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: on Monday. He said, here's a quote from Randy, it's
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: so good. The city may not, quote, terrify first and
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: clarify later. They did not do any diligence at all.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: They said, you may owe the surcharge, and unless you
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: apply for an exemption, we're going to deem you do owe.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: That's what the nasty Graham said. So we just got
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: this guy Banks in court the other day on Staten
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Island arguing back and forth, but in the end.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: It's not 17,000. The number of people that should have
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: been notified is closer to 10,000.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: So they just haphazardly went out there and started sending
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: these people terrifying notices, embarrassing people, not a heck of
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: a lot different than standing outside of Ken Griffin's home
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: when he basically drove Griffin and his $ 6 billion deal
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: out of New York City. But now Randy Mastro has
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: been for months defending these homeowners, these co-op owners. And
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: he may have put the mayor in a position where
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: he's got no other choice but to roll it out
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: all over again. Because the way they did it was
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: irresponsible and, quite frankly, dangerous. When I say they, I
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: say Mamdani and the governor Hochul. Now, Randy's got a
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: second job. As if that's not enough, you've got the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: rent breezes out there. One million stabilized apartments hanging in
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the balance with the rent freeze. And Randy Mastro is
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: also representing the landlords in that case. So, Randy, you
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: seem to be very, very busy these days.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: Well, it looks like our new mayor is a full-time
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: employment service for lawyers, or at least this lawyer.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: It really does.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: So last time I spoke to you a couple of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, you felt pretty good about the lawsuit and
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: where it was heading.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: Because, again, if I'm wrong, correct me, because it is
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: kind of complicated for the everyday person out there.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: But you basically want the mayor to roll this out
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: all over again. tell the people who actually come under
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: these conditions who they are, what they have to do,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: not just randomly add 7,000 more, but it's basically to
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: roll out the program all over again.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: That's completely correct, Sid. There never should have been notices
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: from the city that said you may owe the surcharge.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: Now we're switching the burden to you to apply for
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: an exemption and prove you live in your own home
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: or else you'll be deemed to owe the tax. The
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: state statute that authorized the imposition of the pied-à-terre surcharge
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: expressly put the burden on the city to establish in
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: the first instance that you owe the surcharge, and then
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: to demand you pay. That's why there needs to be
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: a do-over. And you know how we know we're right?
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Because we brought the lawsuit, and the city's now had
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: to fess up that out of those 17,000 who got
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: those threatening nasty grams, you know, they're down to 10,000
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: who may actually have an obligation. And I think at
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: the end of the day, Sid, the number's going to
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: be more like 5,000 to 6,000. Oh, great. So the
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: city is still grossly you know, overestimating and pressuring many
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: New York City resident homeowners into having to prove they
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: live in their own homes. And that's wrong and it's illegal. 100%.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Now, I don't know how much blame with this you
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: put on the governor, but she's like, I'm not surprised.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I thought it was more like 10,000, not 17,000. I
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: don't remember her saying that when these lists first came out.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: And now you're saying it may be more like 5
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: or 6,000 anyway. But Hochul did the old, yeah, that
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: sounds about right. I mean, whatever wind is blowing that day,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: that's where the governor goes, basically.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Well, when this debacle first hit and there was such
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: public outrage about it, Not only among those of us
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: who got these threatening nasty grams. I got one of them.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: And I've lived in this city for 40 years, paid
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: taxes here for 40 years. I had to legally live
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: here to be first deputy mayor last year. But I
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: got one. The governor, who has been the mayor's sponsor
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: of this bill... She did say, hey, this has got
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: to be cleaned up, this has got to be fixed.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: And basically, the city has now been, because we brought
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: this lawsuit, forced to admit they massively screwed up and
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: sent this to 7,000 people they shouldn't have. But there's
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: more to come, because there's going to be other New
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: Yorkers who are residents who never should have gotten these
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: nasty grants, people who own their properties illegally. you know,
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: in some other form, like an LLC or a partnership
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: or a trust. Those are common devices for privacy, for
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: estate planning. People live in New York and they use
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: those devices, but they all got nasty grams, even if
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: it's their own name in the corporation or in the trust,
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: so that the city could easily match up the name
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: to their tax returns.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: So talk about specifically, Randy, what happened on Monday on
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Staten Island and those proceedings, which seem to once again
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: favor you. Talk about that day, specifically Monday on Staten Island.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: OK, well, we had a hearing in the Pieta Tercer
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: Church case lasted over two hours. Justice Ozzie on Staten Island,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: he asked very penetrating questions of both sides. very engaged,
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: very attentive, very concerned about the harm that what the
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: city did to so many New York City resident homeowners.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: Now we're awaiting a written decision from him. I don't
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: predict outcomes of cases. I can just say that it
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: was a very good hearing. The issues aired and he's
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: very engaged. So we're looking forward to his written ruling.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: And then, Sid, on top of that, Yesterday, busy week
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: this week. Yesterday, I was in court for five hours
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: on the rent freeze.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I know. This is unbelievable.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: So for folks that don't know, the New York City
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Rent Guidelines Board, whose decision to freeze the rent on
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: nearly one million stabilized apartments, is caught up in this lawsuit,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: which you just mentioned.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: So how's that going?
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Well, again, a five-hour hearing, that's extraordinary. Justice Landry in Manhattan,
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: very engaged, asked lots of questions of both sides, gave
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: us lots of time taking the issues very seriously. And
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: there at its core, you know, how did this Mondani
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: stacked rent guidelines board that's supposed to be independent, how
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: did they for the first time in their 57 year
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: history decide that Zero rent freeze for one-year leases, zero
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: rent freeze for two-year leases, and straight zero-zeros across the board.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: First time in city history. How did they decide that
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: this year was different than every other year? There's no
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: explanation for it. It isn't. Landlords are suffering. Affordability goes
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: two ways, for landlords and for tenants. Landlords' costs are
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: rising rapidly. soaring past the rate of inflation. Their income
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: is down. By the rent guideline board's own analysis, landlords
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: will be way underwater next year if they don't get
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: multiple percent increases. Yet this board concluded zero, zero across
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: the board for the first time in city history. Insane.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: How did that happen? Mayor makes a campaign promise. comes
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: into office, guarantees it, puts thumb on the scale, and
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: lo and behold, we have a decision that is indefensible
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: and illegal.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: That's why we're in court. Yeah, he points six out
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: of the nine members are his. Like you said, he
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: made the promise.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Somebody said to me a couple of days ago, they said,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: you know, has Mamdani been able to really keep any
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: of his promises? And I said, not really. So he's
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: at the point now where he's so desperate. He's so desperate,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Randy Mastro, to keep one of his campaign promises that
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: he's doing this. He also complains, mind you, that some
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: of these buildings, let's be honest, need some work. But
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: how will the landlords be able to afford to do
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: this work? if they're going to freeze the rent.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: Precisely. There are, and this data was before the board, 50,000
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: vacant apartments where the landlords can't afford to rehab them
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: or took them off the market because they can't afford that.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: How is that good policy for people who need affordable housing?
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: That is insane. The rent guidelines board is supposed to
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: strike a balance between landlords and tenants' interest. It has
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: a statutory mandate to consider factors that relate to both
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: landlords and tenants. But in this year, the Mondani year
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: with the Mondani Stacked Board, they elevated aggregate affordability for
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: tenants above all else and ignored or manipulated the data
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: to understate the rest. that's wrong and that's illegal and
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: that's why we're in court.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I would imagine, I don't know this Randy, but the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: folks that are still there left over from Eric Adams' era,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: that they're on board with you, or is that an
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: assumption that you really can't prove?
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Well, one of those board members quit on the morning
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: of the vote because she would not be a part
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: of would not be a part of a process that
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: was a sham with a predetermined outcome. She was very
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: vocal about the fact that this board's decisions have always
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: been data-driven, and we have a statutory mandate, and the
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: board this year, unlike any other year, was ignoring that,
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: and she would not be a part of it, so
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: she quit the morning of the vote.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Good for her.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Funny, because I was just texting at the same time
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I was talking to another Randy that I absolutely love,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: who's also an attorney, Randy Levine. I'm talking to Randy Mastro.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: I'm texting with Randy Levine. But I'm not an attorney.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: I'm married to a beautiful attorney, but I'm not one.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: So I come from a more, you know, from a
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: commonplace question in these conversations. And I would say to
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: you that if you're in court on Monday on Staten Island,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Randy Mastro, trying to protect you, homeowners, co-op owners, apartment
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: owners on Staten Island, and then you're in court another
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: five hours a day after that trying to protect landlords,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I would just assume, and I could be wrong, all
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: this is very, very bad moving forward for the real
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: estate business in New York.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Or am I wrong? I could be wrong.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Well, that's why we're in court, Sid, to make sure
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: that this administration complies with the rule of law and
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: follows the law so that everyone is treated fairly. that
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: small landlords who are suffering are treated fairly, that homeowners,
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: despite the mayor's antipathy to private property ownership, that homeowners
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: are treated fairly. And that's why these cases are so important.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I got to tell you, in the, I guess, spirit
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: of sports, you love sports, Randy, I know you do.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: I know you do. We could be talking about, I
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: don't know, Ali Frazier.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: The modern version of Ali Frazier right now is Mastro Banks.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Randy Mastro versus Stephen Banks. I mean, you got to
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: wake up every day and fight with this guy. How's
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: that going for you?
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: Well, look, I don't like to personalize things. It's not personal.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: It's business. But he's the corporation counsel. And frankly, I've
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: never seen in any administration the Corporation Council, the city's
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: top lawyer, showing up in court himself every time the
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: city's law department appears. That would be like the U.S.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Attorney General showing up in court all the time when
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the Justice Department is on a case.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Right, that never happens. So why do you think that
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: that's the case?
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: Well, because these cases are against the mayor, and they
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: are about priorities of a socialist mayor. These cases are
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: about law, not policy, but they're policies he cares about,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: even though they're socialist policies. And therefore, he has the
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: head of the city's law department going into court personally.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: To me, this is all about the rule of law
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: and making sure a new administration... socialist or otherwise, complies
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: with the rule of law. And this mayor is not
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: complying with the rule of law, and he's hurting a
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: lot of New Yorkers in the process.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: He really is.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: On the way out, one more, and again, from a
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: complete place of ignorance, I just don't know. All these
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: people on this list, 17,000, now down to 10,000, and
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: maybe you're right, it'll be 5,000 by the time it's
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: all said and done.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Have you talked to a bunch of these folks? Is
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: that part of your responsibility? Absolutely.
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: I've heard from hundreds, hundreds, of homeowners who got these
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: notices and never should have been contacted because they are
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: New York City residents.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Right, so if you're a homeowner right now, or a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: co-op owner, a million dollars, not five million, but whatever
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: it is, and you don't know about this, you just
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: put me on just now, Randy Mastro is out there
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: to help you, and is it easy to find you?
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're a big-time guy. How about Irv Schwartz,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: who lives in Sheepshead Bay? How does he find Randy Mastro?
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I don't hide where I am. I'm
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: at the Deckert Law Firm, D-E-C-H-E-R-T. You can contact me
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: there anytime, randy.mastro at deckert.com. And we will get back
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: to you on the status. But if we win... the
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: city will have to do it over again. And they'll
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: only be able to contact people the city has determined
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: owe the tax. So you will have won from that.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: But we have already won a lot, Sid, in the
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: sense that the city has had to admit in the
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: less than a month since we brought the lawsuit that
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: they sent these notices in error to 7,000 New Yorkers.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: And that's a good thing.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: That's a big win. Last question for you, Randy.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Do you have an ETA as to when you'll get
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: a decision for this, because I think it's going to
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: end up in your favor.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: But whether or not that's the case, any ETA?
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: I think in both cases, we will hear in September.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: I think both judges, given how quickly they scheduled the
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: hearings and all the time and attention they're devoting to it,
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: really appreciate them, are making this a top priority to
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: get a decision out quickly. But I think we'll hear
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: sometime in September, and I think well before the end
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: of September.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: The freezing rent case and, of course, the second tax case.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: And I'm hearing the lovely things like a bunch of attorneys.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Everybody listens to this show. You know that, Randy, everybody.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: And all saying nice things about Ozzie and specifically Landry,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: who I guess at one point ran the Republican Club
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: out there on Staten Island. So he's got a lot
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: of fans who listen to this show. Either way, Randy Mastro,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: you are a hero. I mean this, what you're doing
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: for the people here in New York is really beautiful.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: So above and beyond, you know, doing the right thing
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: and proving that this administration did something wrong and illegal.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: What you're doing is actually very, very nice. And I
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: appreciate you. Thank you so much.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Appreciate you. And you're, you're too kind, but always love
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: being with you.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: Love having you too.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: That's my friend, Randy Mastro, who did not one, but
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: two amazing jobs with two mayors, Rudy Giuliani and Eric Adams.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: And it's now out there today, New York. Fighting for you, my.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Friend Randy Mastro.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Sid and Friends in the Morning.
• 16:33
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• 16:39
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• 16:43
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• 16:47
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• 16:52
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• 16:56
  Speaker 4: for a new episode so you never have to wonder.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: What the heck is going on here?