No “fare.”

Hundreds of complaints about New York City’s new broker fee ban have been filed since the law went into effect over the summer — but only two real estate agents have been forced to reimburse tenants who were wrongly charged, The Post has learned.

Israel Mendlewicz, of real estate brokerage Urban Pads, was ordered to return a $4,480 broker fee he charged tenants for a rent-stabilized Brooklyn apartment in June, the month the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act went into effect.

He claimed the tenants had agreed to hire him as a broker for the apartment, on Dean Street in Crown Heights — and griped that he must now shell out a $750 civil penalty in addition to the returned fee.

“[The tenant] was out of town and was looking for an apartment – and agreed to hire me,” Mendlewicz fumed to The Post.

The first-of-its-kind judgement followed an administrative hearing with the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

The other group of refunded tenants saw their $2,500 broker fee returned by their agent before an administrative hearing could come to fruition, DCWP said – with the broker, who was not identified, now forced to pay $1,500 in penalties.

The agency has received more than 1,600 gripes and questions about the FARE Act, resulting in 53 summonses, since the law took effect, a spokesperson said.

The law, which was passed by the City Council in 2024, states that the party who hires the broker must pay the fee – including landlords who employ brokers to publish apartment listings.

The FARE Act prohibits charging tenants for the fees of a broker retained by the landlord. Fines start at $750 for first-time violations and increase up to a max of $2,000.

Mendlewicz railed that the new regulations have stiffed him out of business and force those in the real estate industry to work “much harder” to “explain [to] clients the value of hiring a broker … [who] need to work 6-8 weeks to find a tenant that can afford these units.”

“Then we still risk the landlord finding a tenant on their own [or a] tenant making a complaint, as you see in this case,” he said.

He and the other broker to get dinged and ordered to cough up refunds were notified between December 2025 and this January, DCWP said.

The city has settled six other FARE Act-related complaints prior to reaching a hearing, a DCWP rep said – but tenants in those cases have yet to see their refund.

“We have a dedicated team who are actively investigating these complaints and also assessing which are actionable to bring administrative charges,” the agency said.

Brooklyn Councilman Chi Ossé, the bill’s sponsor, told constituents in a January X post: “If you were forced to pay a broker fee and you reported it, your refunds are coming.”

There have been 186 broker fee charge-related complaints made to 311 since June 2025, according to city records, with the most calls, 67, made in Brooklyn.

Queens was next with 46 complaints, followed by Manhattan, at 41, with The Bronx notching 28 and Staten Island just four.

Mendlewicz, the disgruntled broker, claimed he has witnessed New Yorkers opting to forgo moving out of their current apartments due to spiking rents — with landlords hiding the broker fee inside monthly bills.

“They can’t afford to move out,” he said, “which adds to the shortage of the supply.”

A StreetEasy report released in December found the FARE Act is estimated to have increased rents by 1.1%, with the ongoing citywide housing shortage appearing to be the culprit behind rent increases.

A red sauce revival is coming to Brooklyn.

Ferdinando’s Focacceria in Carroll Gardens – which abruptly closed last year after 121 years of serving up classic Sicilian fare – will reopen next month with a new owner and a new twist.

The spot will reopen as Bar Ferdinando with its new owner, Sal Lamboglia, hand-selected by longtime Ferdinando’s owner Frank Buffa last March. Lamboglia, who owns the buzzy Cafe Spaghetti across the street, will reopen the space on April 15 as a neighborhood cafe and cocktail bar.

“My goal is to preserve what makes Ferdinando’s so special while giving it the care it needs to keep going for years to come,” Lamboglia, who also helms Brooklyn spots Swoony’s and Sal Tang’s, said in a statement shared with The Post.

“We don’t want it to be unrecognizable — but I do want to see myself reflected in the space.”

The revamped Union Street red sauce joint will still offer Sicilian rice balls, octopus salad and the “original” panelle sandwich – made using Buffa’s family recipe – plus coffee and espresso.

New additions include house-made eggplant caponata and insalata di mare, Lamboglia added, as well as a dessert menu from Radio Bakery alum Jackie De La Barrera.

The bar will feature a cocktail program led by Ricardo Echeverri — formerly of Swoony’s — offering “inventive twists on classics, amaro-forward pours, martinis, vermouth, and the bar’s own spin on the iconic Manhattan Special,” Bar Ferdinando reps said.

Lamboglia said he will be keeping roughly half of the institution’s original artwork, historic light fixtures, flooring and chairs — as well as a decades-old sign “that has defined the room for generations.”

Some of the restaurant’s famous clientele memorialized on the walls include Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese – the latter of whom used Ferdinando’s for a scene in 2006’s “The Departed.”

Local Michael Hafftka, a painter who owns a private art gallery on the block, considers the new opening a welcome addition from Cafe Spaghetti — which he described as an already-beloved eatery in Carroll Gardens.

“I eat there often, it’s a nice place,” he said of the four-year old restaurant, adding the block will be “enhanced” with the incoming bar and cafe.

“They are a great addition to the neighborhood,” Hafftka added, “so I think Bar Ferdinando will also be a fine addition.”

Buffa, who closed shop last February due to health issues, previously told The Post he considers Lamboglia a “nice fit” and chose him over other buyers because “he’s a famous guy, and I like how he did it with Cafe Spaghetti.

“He will continue [Ferdinando’s] in his way.”

There’s snow job too small for these neighborhood heroes.

Two Manhattan buddies are going viral for clearing nearly 30 local businesses’ and residences’ sidewalks the day after Jan. 25’s monster snow storm – free of charge.

NoHo resident Andrew Psomas told The Post he watched the mammoth snowfall predictions from Winter Storm Fern mount beforehand, so the self-described artist called pal Danny Reed – an adventure athlete and content creator – at 9:30 p.m. the day before to see if he was on board to join him in his effort.

Psomas said the pair began shoveling snow at 6 a.m. Jan. 26 with the simple goal of clearing as many sidewalks as possible before work.

“I was shoveling snow for this building I’ve been close with for a while — and as I was shoveling snow, it just brought me back to when I was shoveling as a kid,” said Psomas, 31, of the inspiration behind the good deed.

“A lot of people don’t have the capability to shovel snow for themselves. People die from heart attacks while shoveling snow. There’s also elderly people that just need to get around,” he said.

“All this was going on in my head while I was shoveling, and I just thought, ‘I need to do this.’ But one person shoveling is not as fun as two, so I called up Danny because Danny is always down for something fun.”

The pair cleared a whopping 30 sidewalks outside businesses and residences on Bleecker Street in NoHo before 9 a.m., he said. The grueling work took about three hours.

The Pizza Box on Bleecker Street shoveled its own sidewalk but kept the pair’s goodwill going by gifting them with a free pizza.

“Saw you in our hood! We shoveled our own sidewalk, but our customers appreciate you,” the business wrote on Instagram. “We want to treat you to a pizza on us! Great job! It’s hard work.”

Psomas said, “There’s a great sense of community in the city and everyone’s always helping each other out.

“I’m not going to wait for the snow to do something nice.

“We just wanted to create a situation where the streets would be open for all people and people could get about their business,” he said.

–Additional reporting by Greg Carlton

A bombshell memo made public Thursday proves the city knew about the potential risks of Sept. 11, 2001 toxins weeks after the terror attacks — as officials told New Yorkers it was safe to return to Lower Manhattan, local pols said.

City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) unveiled the October 2001 memo, in which Big Apple lawyers admitted the city could face tens of thousands of lawsuits, including from people exposed to toxins after being advised they could return to the area around Ground Zero too soon.

“Health advisories caused individuals either to return to the area too soon (causing toxic exposure or emotional harm) or too late (causing economic hardship),” the city Law Department wrote in the memo to Bob Harding, then–Deputy Mayor for Economic Development under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“As we head into the 25th anniversary of 9/11, it’s really just shameful that the city gave this information and refused to disclose this information,” Menin, who ran a small business in the Financial District at the time of the attacks, said outside City Hall.

“This is just such a shocking situation,” she said, “that the city of New York has failed to take responsibility for telling the downtown community and first responders that the air was safe to breathe and that we should all be staying in Lower Manhattan.”

The document does not show that the city knew about the contaminants still filling the air when it advised New Yorkers it was safe to return to the area around the World Trade Center.

But it served as a “risk assessment” showing lawyers for the city admitting they could face up to 10,000 liability claims from residents over potential respiratory issues from contaminants including metals and asbestos, Menin said.

Nearly 50,000 first responders and others have been diagnosed with 9/11-related cancers.

The so-called “Harding memo” was first referenced in journalist Wayne Barrett’s 2006 book “The Grand Illusion,” though it was never clear how he obtained it.

It was finally found last week by the pro-bono attorneys for 9/11 victims at the University of Texas, which inherited Barrett’s estate.

Though the university told victims’ lawyers in December that they had no record of the memo, clerks agreed to comb through 300 boxes of Barrett’s documents – and found the missing memo in January.

“It is outrageous, and it is shocking, and it is heartbreaking that … the state of Texas is telling us more about what the city knew and when it knew it than the mayor’s offices have told us for the past 45 years,” said 9/11 victims’ attorney Andrew Carboy.

The memo release is part of a larger effort to make public records related to the Sept. 11. attacks.

The city previously moved to dismiss attempts to disclose its own toxin records, at one point claiming it had no documents – and only reversed course last year after a Department of Investigation probe spearheaded by Brewer found 68 boxes of 9/11 health-related documents, according to lawyers for some of the victims.

The council members and victims’ lawyers are now calling on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fund a $3 million project to probe and release the records.

“It’s time for the mayor to step up and do what he needs to do to get the right and the information out to people who really need it,” said Thomas Hart, who sits on the board of 9/11 Health Watch.

Menin and Brewer said newly-minted mayor’s office attorney Steve Banks “favorably indicated to both of us that he was committed to do that” at his confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Ex-Mayor Eric Adams once refused to release a stash of documents showing the alleged cover-up — unless the city was granted immunity from lawsuits.

“There’s much more that we need to know, and as we are seeing from this memo, as more documents from the 68 boxes will come out,” added Rep. Dan Goldman on the steps of City Hall.

“The idea that monetary and financial concerns would dictate the actions of the city of New York for 25 years is repulsive.”

— Additional reporting by Haley Brown