The New York City Council voted 44-5 on Thursday to ban “surveillance pricing,” the practice of companies charging different customers different prices for the same product based on data collected from their browsing history, shopping habits and social media activity.
The bill has the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and passed easily through the Democrat-controlled council. It was sponsored by Council Speaker Julie Menin.
“There are many factors that are driving up costs,” Menin said at City Hall ahead of the vote. “Some of them are quite obvious to consumers, but a more subtle reason is the insidious and predatory corporate practice of surveillance pricing.”
“For different consumers that are shopping at the exact same time, companies set different prices for the exact same product, taking advantage of their demographics, web browsing history, and shopping habits, as well as their social media activity, all to make New Yorkers pay more,” she added.
Opponents had raised concerns that the new regulations could hurt small businesses. Lawmakers built in a carve-out to address that: large companies will face an immediate $1,000 fine for violating the law, but small businesses get a chance to submit an action plan to fix violations before facing penalties.
Vacant Apartments Under Scrutiny
The council also took up a separate bill targeting the city’s more than 50,000 vacant rent-stabilized apartments, which sit empty even as the city’s overall vacancy rate stands at just 1.4%. Critics argue landlords are deliberately “warehousing” these units instead of renting them.
The bill, introduced by Brooklyn Council Member Farah Louis (D-45), would direct the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to spend 60 days studying the problem and developing a plan to bring the empty units back onto the rental market.
“With approximately 57,000 reported vacant rent-stabilized units citywide and nearly 279,000 rent-stabilized apartments in Brooklyn alone, we need a clearer understanding of why these homes remain unavailable and what it will take to return them to the rental market,” Louis said in a statement.
Tax Break for Disabled Veterans
In a 48-1 vote, the council also opted New York City into a state law exempting veterans classified as “permanently and totally” disabled from paying property taxes. The bill was sponsored by Republican Councilman Frank Morano (R-51) and passed one day after Veterans Day.
“The state bill required an opt-in, and today what we’re doing in New York City is we are opting in, and we’re making a very powerful statement about how this council values its veterans,” Morano said at City Hall ahead of the vote.
