Zohran Mamdani swept to victory in the mayor’s race with a canny pledge to freeze the rent for New York City’s roughly two million tenants in rent-stabilized apartments.
When Mr. Mamdani takes office in January, a vote to freeze the rent will still be several months away. But the city’s housing crisis is a much broader, messier problem, and a host of other housing-related issues are sure to command his attention right away.
Here’s a look at a few of them.
The Dire State of Public Housing
New York City’s public housing system — almost 180,000 apartments spread across 335 developments — is a crucial source of apartments that are affordable to the poorest residents.
But residents in the aging buildings have been dealing with persistent leaks, heat outages and pest problems for years. Sometimes parts of the buildings collapse. Needed repairs and renovations total some $78 billion, according to the latest estimate from the New York City Housing Authority, which runs the system.
Mayor Eric Adams accelerated a plan to transfer many of the developments over to private management to unlock a new pool of federal funding to finance repairs. But many progressive politicians believe the public sector should maintain control.
Mr. Mamdani, in his victory speech on Tuesday, pledged to “work tirelessly to make lights shine again in the hallways of NYCHA developments where they have long flickered.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
