Gustavo Gordillo, a co-chair of DSA-NYC, is reportedly using his parents to finance extensive renovations on a $1.5 million home he shares with his brother in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. The community board has opposed the renovation plans, citing concerns that the proposed structure, described as a "beach house," is out of character with the historic district. Additionally, Gordillo has allegedly been using non-union labor for the construction. He was reportedly suspended from his IBEW membership, with sources suggesting he failed to fulfill apprenticeship requirements.
Further allegations against Gordillo include failing to pay three months of rent for an apartment he occupied in Crown Heights while the Bed-Stuy renovations were underway. Morris Katz, a campaign consultant who has worked for figures like Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former Maine candidate Graham Platner, is also accused of leaving a Williamsburg apartment stuffed with trash and owing $14,000 in rent upon vacating.
Tracy Rosenthal, an associate of Mamdani, has publicly discussed bankrupting her landlord through a years-long rent strike. This action reportedly led to the foreclosure of the building, a situation that had previously put the city on the path to potentially taking control of the property. This development occurred under a program Mamdani is currently endorsing, which can transfer management of buildings to nonprofits, a model advocated by some socialist theorists for housing solutions.