New York has the lowest homeownership rate in the country. Just over half the state’s residents reported owning a home in recent years, according to Federal Reserve data. The lawmakers sent to Congress to represent those residents tell a different story.
At least 24 of New York’s 28 congressional delegates own or have owned a home, according to a review of personal financial disclosure forms. More than a quarter of the delegation has used real estate to build their personal wealth. The gap between the people doing the representing and the people being represented is hard to ignore.
Housing costs sit at the center of New York’s political conversation right now. Mayor Zohran Mamdani won City Hall on a platform built around rent freezes. Residents from the Bronx to Buffalo have made clear they are fed up with what they pay to keep a roof over their heads. Meanwhile, the lawmakers tasked with addressing that frustration are, by and large, property owners themselves.
Some members of the delegation are pushing for meaningful reforms. Proposals circulating in Congress include expanding rental assistance programs, barring large institutional investors from gobbling up residential properties, and cutting mortgage insurance premiums for federal borrowers. But the financial disclosures of those same lawmakers complicate the picture considerably.
Rep. Dan Goldman stands out at the top of the delegation’s property holdings. He reported mortgages on three residences, one in New York City within his own district and two on Long Island. His total debt falls somewhere between $11 million and $55 million, with those mortgages making up the bulk of it. Most other delegation members reported a single mortgage under their liabilities.
Several lawmakers are also landlords, collecting rental income from properties they own while simultaneously debating housing policy that affects millions of New Yorkers who rent out of necessity rather than choice.
Rep. John Mannion owns a rental property in Old Forge, a ski town in the Adirondacks, valued between $250,001 and $500,000. He reported no rental income from the property in 2024 but collected between $15,001 and $50,000 from it the year before. Rep. George Latimer also disclosed a rental property in Warren County in the Adirondacks, valued between $100,001 and $250,000.
Rep. Jerry Nadler reported a rental property as well, though his disclosure did not specify how much he earned from renting it out. He also reported selling a house in 2024 for between $100,001 and $250,000. His disclosure did not identify the property’s location. His office did not respond to requests for comment.
Rep. Elise Stefanik listed a residential rental property in Washington, D.C., valued between $250,001 and $500,000, in her 2024 filings. She reported no income from the property that year.
None of this is illegal. Financial disclosures exist precisely to surface these kinds of details, and most of the delegation appears to have filed them as required. But disclosure is not the same as accountability, and transparency about a conflict of interest does not make the conflict disappear.
The people asking Congress for help with rent or a first mortgage are, statistically speaking, far more likely to look like the typical New York renter than like their elected representative. The median New York City renter is not sitting on three mortgaged properties and millions of dollars in real estate debt. They are trying to figure out whether their landlord can raise the rent again.
That lived experience matters when you’re voting on housing policy. It shapes which problems feel urgent and which solutions feel realistic. A lawmaker who owns a vacation rental in the Adirondacks and a D.C. investment property is not wrong to vote for renter protections. But they are navigating that vote from a very different vantage point than the constituents pressing them to act.
New York sends 28 people to Congress. The state’s renters, who make up nearly half the population, are watching to see whether those 28 people legislate like they understand the problem or like they’ve already solved it for themselves.
