On January 1, 2026, Zoharan Mamdani, the Democratic socialist and New York's youngest Mayor, vowed for 'expansive and audacious' governance in his inaugural speech as he was sworn in amid a cheering crowd.
Sorting out New York's housing affordability crisis, plugging the cost-of-living issues are the two primary challenges ahead for Mayor Mamdani. Notably, they were the core issues he focused on during his extensive campaign.
Coalition for the Homeless organisation reports that 'homelessness' in New York City has reached the highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It also added that 102,850 people slept each night in NYC shelters in October last year. Sadly, 35,040 children were part of them.
Significantly, Black and Hispanic/Latinx New Yorkers are the ones most affected by 'homelessness'.
"Surveys of homeless families have identified the following major immediate, triggering causes of homelessness in NYC: eviction, doubled-up or severely overcrowded housing, domestic violence, job loss, and hazardous housing conditions," it stated.
It highlighted that the lack of affordable housing is the basic reason behind this miserable situation. Also, a recent Housing Vacancy Survey points out that the vacancy rate of less than one per cent for affordable apartments in NYC.
"In New York City, the typical household spends more than half of its income on rent," the BBC reported.
During his campaign for Mayorship, Mamdani promised to freeze rents. The freeze would apply to over 1 million apartments, and it translates to over half of the rental stock in the city.
He also intends to build 200,000 affordable homes for the sake of low-and moderate-income households, and the cost will be permanently subsidised by the government.
However, Budget shortfall, the willingness of the Governor, the source of funding, and overcoming White House intervention would certainly pose difficulties for Mamdani to fulfil his promises.
Mamdani secured the most votes of any New York City mayor in the last 60 years, with his voters mostly belonging to the working class and change-seeking youngsters group.
Interestingly, the crowd during Mamdani's inaugural speech chanted the 'tax the rich!' slogan.
Now, in what ways will Mamdani fix the spiralling housing affordability crisis to bring an end to the sufferings of the people will be keenly looked at!
