As the mayoral race comes to an end on November 4th, 2025, the three forerunners– Zohran Mamdami, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa– have begun the closing remarks for their campaigns. Following a string of interviews that can only be described as filled with childish exuberance and quippy comments by Sliwa, it’s important to focus on the real problem in New York– its unaffordability and constantly rising prices. Leading the debate on affordable housing, Zohran Mamdami is running a democratic socialist campaign focused on freezing rent prices and making city living accessible for all New Yorkers.
New York City is home to 8.5 million people, with median monthly income equaling $5,344 (NYC Housing). In comparison, median monthly rent equals $3,599 per month (Zillow), making up 67% of each individual’s income. This leaves less than half of a resident’s monthly income for other necessities and goods, such as food, education, transportation, and utilities. Implementing a rent freeze would keep the price of rent stable from the point of purchase, keeping costs stable and not subject to change by the landlord.
However, if you’ve taken Economics here, you can realize the potential effects of this policy on both tenants and landlords. While it may be successful in the short term, the long term implications would technically leave tenants worse off than they are now. Of course, these rent freezes would not terribly affect wealthy landlords that hold many properties, but rather upper middle class citizens owning residences. Rent freezes would mean a loss of income for these landlords, and thus create incentive for them to invest less in maintenance and better housing standards. Housing would thus become cheaper, but with the caveat of being lower quality. While rent control might not be effective long- term, studies have shown that their implementation benefits society more than if they hadn’t been enacted.
Regardless of this fact, most contestation has revolved around Mamdani’s political leaning and experience, or lack thereof. A fellow NESCAC graduate (Bowdoin), he co-founded their chapter of Students for Justice for Palestine and moved on to become an Assemblyman for District 36 in New York. As per his website, zohranfornyc.com, his achievements include “hunger striking alongside taxi drivers to achieve more than $450 million in transformative debt relief, winning over $100 million in the state budget for increased subway service and a successful fare-free bus pilot, and organizing New Yorkers to defeat a proposed dirty power plant.” His critics argue that managing a city of 8.5 million and an estimated $117 billion budget requires more than Assembly experience, with his opposition, Curtis Sliwa, saying “Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin… Andrew, your failures could fill a New York City Public Library.”
Mamdani’s politics reflect his party– Democratic socialist. However, New York City is known for its cutthroat financial systems and capitalistic nature, having been built on institutions dedicated to maximizing profits and fostering international capital trade. So, how does a proclaimed socialist lead the mayoral race in New York? The answer is desperation. New Yorkers are desperate for a change, or at least a break in the constantly rising prices. It is unsustainable for the middle class worker to continue living in NYC with an income rising with inflation if rent rises by more than that. Couple that with impending layoffs due to the rising proficiency of Artificial Intelligence, and you’re looking at a city closed off from everyone but the wealthy. Most people voting for Zohran Mamdani are not socialists, nor are they against capitalism. Mamdani is providing a respite from the old, broken record of Cuomo and politicians primarily concerned with appealing to the powers that be.
With the elections beginning next week, it is critical to understand that New York City is meant to give everyone an equal opportunity for success. It is a city built by dreamers that has flourished into the beautiful mess that it is today. The desperation of the New Yorkers to vote for a socialist has less to do with the man behind the ballot, and more so with the parents unable to support their families, the continuously rising housing prices, and the constant prioritization of the wealthy in a city claiming to be all- encompassing and accepting.
