As of November 4th, 2025, there is officially a new mayor in town for New Yorker’s. After a tough battle against Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Curtis Silwa, a republican candidate, the left-wing democrat Zohran Kwame Mamdani won the election battle. This democratic socialist, as he calls himself, was born in Uganda and was raised in the streets which “will make you feel brand-new”, and who’s “lights will inspire you”. The former member of the New York’s Assembly becoming the newly elected mayor, marked a date in history as he is the first NYC’s Muslim mayor.
During the election period, Mamdani pledged to change the life of many New Yorker’s by “fixing” the NYC’s housing market, taxing the wealthiest, investing in immigrant defense services, and expanding public services such as free busses and universal childcare. Citing Mamdani himself, his call to “Trump-proof” NYC is about standing up for the most vulnerable residents when the policies are hostile to their interests. While Mamdani clearly stated, that his main goal remains to unite the people of NYC and make their lives less miserable, and not go head-to-head with the president himself, Donald Trump; however, was quick to publicly call Mamdani a communist, and threatened to cut all federal funding.1 Having said all that, the main question of this article remains – will Mamdani’s words will turn into actions, and will he be able to change New York’s housing scene?
Zohran plans to combat the increasing rents of the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of” by freezing rents. According to the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck (1970), rent control is “most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city – except for bombing.” 2 That is since, while freezing rent might sound like an excellent solution for the pressed residents, it puts at risk the whole rental market of NYC. By capping the profits of housing owners, Zohran both plays with devil regarding the plan to build new housing, and also puts landlords at risk of not being able to cover the increasing maintenance costs of their properties.2 Furthermore, if property owners will not be able to cover the costs, the already apartment building will fall into disrepair and can even be taken of the market – opposite of what the city needs.2
Furthermore, Mamdani also plans to build new housing. Quite ambivalent, no? Recollecting the already mentioned, if Zohran freezes rents, real estate owners will already struggle, and new projects will be out of their radar’s. However, in theory, increasing the number of apartments available, while not thinking how long it would take and who would invest in such a project, would look like the supply curve shifting right, quantity going up and prices going down. However, we are not living in a dream – Zohran plans to use the city’s funds to create the 200’000 units of housing over 10 years he promised, yet does NYC have the money?
While Mamdani’s plan is very ambitious, New York’s budget for the financial year of 2025 is ~ $83.5 billion and the project would cost about $15 billion more than that (over the course of 10 years).3 But no wonder why Jay-Z sings “there’s nothin’ you can’t do” about NYC. The mayor of the city plans to rely heavily on the 2% income tax that he would impose on the city’s richest individuals and corporations and issuing municipal bonds. Might sound good for some, but for one, issuing these bonds puts the city at risk of debt as there already are gaps in the budget.4 Moreover, he may plan to tax whoever he wants, yet it this plan will not come to light if it is not permitted by state.5
Albeit, while the new mayor might have “Empire State of Mind” right now, to execute his plan, he will firstly need to not get deported by the president and gain access to the funds Trump wanted to take away from him. While rent control might be the suicide of the rental market, it plays a crucial role in reeling the city in to accept the plan to industrialize the city even further, yet it is crucial to comprehend that the rents are controlled by Rent Guidelines Board, and he might not succeed. What’s more, the new housing project will take time and for it to be realized, his plan to acquire extra funds by taxing needs to succeed. While many may have cheered, it is highly uncertain whether the housing market will be transformed.
-Edvards Reksnis