Fact Check: Did Mamdani announce the city will cover February’s rent for all New Yorkers?

Mamdani recently talked about fighting for the city's rent-stabilized tenants.

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

A viral claim suggests New York mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the city will cover February’s rent for all New Yorkers (BG048/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A viral claim has been circulating on social media claiming Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, has announced that the city will cover February’s rent for everyone in NY City. While many believe the claim to be true, others are sceptical about the authenticity of the claim. Let us examine the rumor and fact-check it.

Claim: NYC Mayor said the city will cover February rent for all New Yorkers

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces the city will cover February’s rent for all New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/H1uSrpI0yI
— Hoops Crave (@HoopsCrave) January 25, 2026

The rumor surfaced in a post on X on Sunday, January 25, on a popular page called Hoops Crave.

The post came with an image of the mayor accompanied by a caption that read, 'Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces the city will cover February’s rent for all New Yorkers.'

The claim has gone viral, garnering almost two million views and thousands of likes, with many in the comments appearing to believe the claim to be true.

Fact Check: Zohran Mamdani made no such announcement

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 24: New York mayoral candidate, State Rep. Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) speaks to supporters during an election night gathering at The Greats of Craft LIC on June 24, 2025 in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough in New York City. Mamdani was announced as the winner of the Democratic nomination for mayor in a crowded field in the City’s mayoral primary to choose a successor to Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election on an independent ticket. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) — New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani (D-NY), speaks to supporters during an election night gathering at The Greats of Craft LIC on June 24, 2025, in the Long Island City neighborhood of the Queens borough in New York City (Michael M Santiago/Getty Images)

The claim, however, is false, as the page that posted it, Hoops Crave, is a parody account known for sharing satirical posts for entertainment purposes.

The page’s bio states, 'Parody account not affiliated with @PopCrave.'

Searches on Google for relevant keywords also do not generate any appropriate results supporting the claim.

If the rumor was true, it would have been widely covered by major news media outlets.

A fact check by Grok, the AI assistant of X, has also debunked the claim, stating, “No, this isn't true. The post is from a parody account (HoopsCrave), and searches of official NYC sources show no announcement about covering February rent for all New Yorkers."

"Mayor Mamdani has issued orders on tenant protections and housing, but nothing like this.”

Zohran Mamdani calls for a rent freeze

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (C) speaks during a campaign event with New York City elected officials on November 1, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. With only days left in the race for New York City's next mayor, Mamdani remains the front runner against Independent candidate, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) — Democratic New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a campaign event with New York City elected officials on November 1, 2025, in the Queens borough of New York City (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

However, during his recent appearance on The View on Tuesday, he talked about fighting for the city's more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants.

"For the last four years, all they have seen is that their rent has gone up, and up, and up more than 12%," Mamdani said.

"And I told those New Yorkers they deserve a rent freeze, they deserve to have the peace of mind to wake up one day, and that is what the Rent Guidelines Board can do, and we appoint every member to that board."