Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (NYC DSA), faced off against Fox News host Martha MacCallum on Friday, sparking a debate over landlord profits and housing policy. During an appearance on "The Story," Gordillo asserted that landlords should not expect a 12% return on their investments.
Gordillo criticized the standard applied to tenants, stating, "The problem we’re facing in our housing system is that we talk about tenants and we say, they have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they have to be responsible financially." He contrasted this with the treatment of landlords, asking, "But when we look at the landlords, we don’t use those same standards."
MacCallum questioned Gordillo on what he considered a fair return for landlords. Gordillo responded that landlords "don’t think anyone should have a constitutional right to double-digit returns on their investment," and when pressed, stated "no one has a right" to such returns. The host expressed surprise, asking, "Why are you talking about?"
Gordillo further argued that when rent freezes are implemented, landlords complain about the government potentially putting them out of business. MacCallum countered, "Well, they’re trying to run a business and they’re trying to do it effectively." She added that while some landlords may be poor operators, the idea of capping profits runs counter to the aspirational message of opportunity in New York.
The exchange comes as New York City's Rent Guidelines Board recently enacted a rent freeze for approximately 1 million rent-stabilized units. This decision has drawn criticism from some landlords. Lav Bauta, whose firm Zion Equities owns hundreds of rent-stabilized units, stated that operating expenses for these properties are not proportional to their income. He noted that rent-stabilized properties face similar or greater costs for insurance, wages, supplies, and utilities as market-rate properties, without a mechanism to cap expenses while income is limited. Bauta also pointed out that these calculations do not include debt service, which is crucial for funding repairs and reinvestment.
![Gustavo Gordillo speaking at a podium with "TAX the RICH" written on it.]( "Gustavo Gordillo speaking at a podium with "TAX the RICH" written on it.")
Gordillo is a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America's New York City chapter. The organization advocates for policies that challenge traditional capitalist structures, including calls for wealth redistribution and stronger tenant protections.