New York is having its mayoral election. What changes might happen?
By: Michael Levitas
New York is having its 2025 mayoral election; it has received national attention not only because New York is America’s largest city and the financial hub of the world, but also because of a breakout star who broke expectations.
Zohran Mamdani, who is a state assembly member from Queens, managed to come out on top and beat former NY governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic primary. Cuomo was expected to win previously solely due to name recognition, but was outperformed in the campaign by Mamdani and his team.
Mamdani is running on a progressive platform of freezing rent for NY’s rent-stabilized apartments, making public transportation free and accessible, offering universal childcare, and creating municipal grocery stores. Mamdani also cleverly uses social media to promote his campaign; his political ads receive widespread attention.
According to data, Mamdani’s campaign was an overall success. He received more votes than the other mayoral candidate in a Democratic primary; the number of first-time voters also sharply increased, and he earned newfound support in many districts that voted for Trump in 2024. His canvassers successfully knocked on more than 1 million doors.
Many establishment Democrats have come out against Mamdani, critiquing his policies and lack of experience. Despite losing the primary, Cuomo has decided to run as an independent, receiving an endorsement from the incumbent Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race in late September. Curtis Sliwa is running as the Republican candidate for New York.
Mamdani made affordability a key issue for his campaign and has put forward policies on how to address it. He will focus specifically on two: freezing the rent and providing municipal groceries. In New York, half of all renters live in rent-stabilized units; these units differ from rent-controlled buildings that were built before 1947, and are quite rare nowadays.
Rent stabilization is a policy that limits skyrocketing rents and helps tenants stay in their homes and communities long-term. It works by creating a local board to set fair limits on rent increases each year. Rent-stabilized units’ rental increases are regulated by the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), who look at things such as costs and wages.
Many who are decrying Mamdani’s rent freeze fail to realize that the mayor has the jurisdiction to do so, and it was already done by past administrations. The mayor has the ability to appoint all nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board and can directly push members to implement policy. Under Mayor Bill de Blasio, there were multiple rent freezes. A rental freeze can help reduce housing expenses and stabilize the financial well-being of many renters.
According to data from the Community Service Society, a rent freeze could potentially save tenants around $6 billion over a four-year period. Tenants would continue paying $21.33 billion in total rent annually. New York is already facing an anti-tenant RGB, which has increased rent quite substantially, squeezing the pockets of New Yorkers.
Municipal grocery stores can be beneficial; in New York and many counties, the retail food sector is heavily concentrated, with Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, and Target having large market shares.
This has led to higher prices for consumers, lower wages for workers, and more food deserts. Grocery chains neglect neighborhoods that are seen as unprofitable. Independent grocery stores have also declined significantly.
Mamdani is planning to tackle this by investing in city-owned grocery stores, where overhead costs are low and food is bought and sold at wholesale prices. These municipal grocery stores will be an effective middle point for citizens who want something else besides dollar stores and grocery chains.
