Former governor Andrew M. Cuomo escalated New York City’s mayoral race by attacking Democratic Socialist front-runner Zohran Mamdani for occupying a rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in Astoria that costs the assemblyman about $2,300 a month. In a series of social-media posts, Cuomo called Mamdani "rich" and urged him to vacate the unit, alleging that a homeless single mother had been denied the apartment. He labeled Mamdani’s tenancy "callous theft" and challenged the assemblyman’s housing credentials. Mamdani, who earns more than $140,000 as a state lawmaker, has said he found the apartment in 2020 while making $47,000 and intends to move. His campaign dismissed Cuomo’s remarks as a distraction, noting the former governor’s own $8,000-a-month Manhattan lease and longstanding ties to real-estate donors. The dispute spotlights New York’s housing crunch and the politics of rent regulation. The city has roughly 960,000 rent-stabilized apartments—an important source of below-market housing—compared with about 24,000 units that remain under older, more restrictive rent-control rules. Cuomo’s criticism comes as he tries to revive his political fortunes through a third-party bid, while Mamdani has pledged to freeze rents for stabilized units if elected mayor.