Mayor Zohran Mamdani is borrowing a bit of cinematic flair from his filmmaker mother, Mira Nair, with City Hall releasing a taxpayer-funded short documentary spotlighting tenants who organized against a landlord they say failed to address their concerns.
The 13-minute film, titled “The Union of Pinnacle Tenants: A Short History of NYC Housing,” prominently features Mamdani alongside Cea Waver, the director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, who previously drew controversy for describing private property ownership as a “weapon of white supremacy.”
The New York Post also appears briefly in the City Hall-produced documentary, which is narrated by “The Gilded Age” actor Morgan Spector. Spector has faced criticism from a watchdog group that labeled him “extremist” over his anti-Israel views.
“The Union of Pinnacle Tenants has shown what becomes possible when neighbors organize,” the democratic socialist mayor said in a press release. “Across nearly 100 buildings, tenants came together and won important victories that made real, material impacts in New Yorkers’ lives.
“I’m proud to stand with them as they continue the fight for affordable, dignified housing across the city,” added Mamdani, whose mother is known for producing award-winning films featuring major stars.
“This film tells the story of that organizing, but I hope it also reminds New York City tenants that the power to change their living conditions begins with one another,” he said. “The most protected tenant is an organized tenant.”
Not everyone was ready to applaud the production. The watchdog group Common Sense criticized the project, arguing that the city did not need to produce the documentary.
“New Yorkers elected a mayor, not a Hollywood producer,” the group said.
“The administration should, of course, communicate with New Yorkers, and transparency and accessibility are essential. But when an undisclosed sum of public dollars is used to create a video narrated by a well-documented extremist in an effort clearly intended to generate viral attention, priorities have become recklessly misplaced.
“Good governance is about delivering real solutions to real problems, not merely generating headlines. As the city grapples with an ever-worsening deficit, City Hall should be vigilant about the appropriate use of taxpayer funds.
“Making short films does not clean the streets or keep New Yorkers safe or even make the buses faster.”
The flick heavily features tenants and chronicles how they organized across 93 buildings formerly owned by Pinnacle Group to “defend their homes, build collective power, and win repairs.”
Weaver, a tenants advocate who also once pushed to “seize private property,” takes center stage at one point in the documentary.
“This is Cea Weaver. Some, like the New York Post, prefer oddball,” Spector says as a Post headline appears in the flick.
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Weaver, sitting in a chair next to a table of books about housing and rent control, responds, “But I like to call myself a tenant organizer.”
The documentary focuses on the residents organizing to form the Union of Pinnacle Tenants to challenge The Pinnacle Group, responsible for more than 5,000 housing violations and 14,000 complaints.
The Pinnacle group ended up selling its 5,200-unit portfolio in The Bronx and Brooklyn.
The new owner, Summit Properties, agreed to spend $30 million on repairs and forgive tenants’ rent arrears.
The documentary also provides a history of changes to the state’s rent-control and rend stabilization laws since the 1960s.
Mamdani’s office said the film was prepared in-house with recordings from his video division.
The release did not specify how much was spent on the production.
Spector — who has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and supports legislation that would halt the sale of US weaponry to Israel — was not paid, the mayor’s office said.
A Post review of records filed with the comptroller’s office found City Hall spent more than $6,000 on Canon recording cameras and other equipment that could be used for filming.
Mamdani’s office said his predecessors also had video units.
Mamdani’s release said the documentary is part of his administration’s pro-tenant effort to build tenant power across the city, including with his Block by Block housing and Rental Ripoff hearings.
His office also recently issued a “Right to Organize” letter, signed by the mayor, reminding tenants of their right to knock on their neighbors’ doors, form tenant associations and hold meetings without landlord interference.
Mamdani’s appointees to the Rent Guidelines Board recently imposed a one- and two-year freeze on rent at 1 million rent-stabilized apartements.
