'Why publicly flog Indian-origin': Zohran Mamdani's $31M penalty against Bronx landlords Karan Singh and Rajmattie Persaud faces backlash

NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani just made a historic decision. In a press conference on Wednesday, alongside Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg and Department of Housing and Preservation Commissioner Dina Levy, he announced a historic penalty against owners of two troubled Bronx apartment complexes, securing $31 million in penalties and oversight of long-delayed repairs.The payment, which is the largest ever obtained by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, targets Karan Singh and Rajmattie Persaud, owners of Robert Fulton Terrace and Fordham Towers where tenants have reported years of unsafe conditions including broken elevators, vermin infestations and chronic outages of heat and hot water. At Robert Fulton Terrace alone, tenants have filed more than 2,300 housing complaints over the past two years, resulting in over 1,000 violations as per HPD data. Fordham Towers has also logged nearly 1,800 complaints and more than 500 violations in the same period.Taking to X, Mamdani said that Singh and Persaud were on the Public Advocates' "Worst Landlord" list. "They have over a thousand violations for lack of heat, lack of hot water, hazardous mold, lead paint, broken elevators in 17-story buildings, roaches, and mice. For too long, renters have cycled through bad owners and foreclosures. Not anymore," he wrote. A Chief Restructuring Officer has been appointed to ensure the repairs on the buildings, Mamdani revealed adding that they had restrained funds from the owners' bank accounts which will be used for the repairs.Following a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society and the city, the pair has now been hit with a record $31 million penalty and stripped off the financial control over the buildings.Mamdani's initiative has been appreciated by residents, considering his campaign on affordable housing in New York. However, it has received some major flak online, especially since both Singh and Persaud seem to be Indian-origin."Can you explain why you picked two Hindu's of Indian origin to publicly flog and financially penalise? I looked at the worst landlords list and most of the landlord names seem to be Jewish or White," asked a user on X."Wow!!! They took their money!!! Wake the f*** up New York!!! And America!! They have access to all of us!!!" added another."The Mayor claims he is not anti-Hindu and I have defended him against that attack but it is getting difficult to do so," added one.