NYC traditional Dems are still in denial about why Mamdani is currently ahead in the polls and likely to be NYC's next mayor. There are a myriad of reasons for this but I'd like to highlight this recent NY Post article which shows one glaring issue:
The rent is too damn high.
Of course anyone with a functioning brain knows that such a law will not only affect Mamdani but a whole lot of people seeking a place to live without handing over half or more of their pay.
"Mamdani, 33, who rakes in $142,000 a year as a state assemblyman and whose wealthy family includes his filmmaker mom and professor dad, has been living in a $2,300-a-month, one-bedroom pad in Astoria."
Firstly, in NY 142k a year is not all that much. But the kicker here, and what's relevant is that Cuomo has acting like 2300/mo rent for One Bedroom (no work on size) is acceptable. Sure NY residents may be used to it, but normalizing that kind of number (more in Manhattan) is one of the problems that put Mamdani on top.
"“We’re not supposed to be providing rent-stabilized apartments to the children of millionaires.”
As a matter of fact, living below ones means is the primary way people build wealth and acquire assets. What Cuomo is proposing would undercut this avenue of wealth building. If anything Cuomo should be doing what Mamdani is doing and seeing how he can reduce the cost of living for NYC residents so that they TOO can live below their means and build wealth and then move out of apartments into homes they can actually afford.
Cuomo apparently said the following:
"“Somewhere last night in New York City, a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter because you, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, are occupying her rent-controlled apartment,” Cuomo wrote in a viral tweet that racked up more than 28 million views."
How many single mothers with children are making enough money to afford 2300/mo for a one bedroom? The yearly cost of that rent is $27k not including any of the other bills associated with living there. You're not supposed to spend more than 25% of income on rent which means this "mother" would need to be making $110,000. $110,000 after taxes in NYC is around 70-80k depending on other things. This leaves $52k after rent for the year or roughly 5k a month for all other expenses. If she was making that money, she's not in a homeless shelter with her kid.
How many people fell for this line?
The actual median income in NYC is 80k. So the numbers are even more bleak. That rent would be closer to 35% of income (before taxes) and 46% after estimated taxes.
Lets put it this way. If people earning $100k/year are sleeping in homeless shelters, The problem is NOT Mamdani's rent. It's a structural problem that many people have been pointing out.
NYC and NYS cannot keep raising taxes on property owners directly or indirectly through the fees and the like on services and at the same time squawk about affordable rent as if these taxes and fees don't end up coming out the pockets of renters.
This is what gives Mamdani a platform
"Mamdani landed the rent-regulated apartment on StreetEasy when he was making $47,000, his camp said."
Yes and I'm not mad at him for it. Not at all. There is no reason to increase one's expenses just because you have more income. Furthermore the government should not be able to force you to do so. Sane people understand this and this is why Cuomo and his ilk are trailing in the polls.
This is not a support of Socialism. This is a critique of the current system which has become unhinged from reality. But of course that is the problem with NYC right now: Unhinged from reality.
