Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Administration Launches New Program to Deliver Affordable Housing on City-Owned Land Faster
Zohran Mamdani on NYC Mayor's Office transcripts.
Passages
You know, some of my favorite songs begin with the word “Metro.” And now I'm realizing that some of my favorite moments as a mayor also begin with that same word. So, I think that we are ready to take some questions.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI want to make something clear that: Council Member Ossé and I share a politics that has lasted for years [on] how we can uplift working people in this city. And that is critically important in a city that has become the most expensive in the United States of America. And what is a beautiful thing about the commitment to uplifting working people is that, you know, it has to be done across the city and has to also be done with a dedication to tenants, to homeowners, to everybody who calls the city home. I'm thankful to have the Council member here. And I'm thankful, frankly, for the growing coalition that we've seen, whether Metro IAF, faith leaders, elected officials, all about stability. And I think it's only fitting that today's announcement is in one part about apartments that are affordable enough to rent and homes that are affordable enough to own. We don't need to choose anymore in the manner that we've been told we have to. And I appreciate the kind of leadership that has brought that to a reality.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, we came into this administration inheriting a generational fiscal crisis, the likes of which we hadn't seen since 2008. And frankly, this even dwarfed that, as when we came into office, we saw it was at least $12 billion. Now, thanks to the hard work, both within City government, also in partnership with the state, we were able to bring that $12 billion down to $5.4 billion. Now, we're talking about a program that at its current level is growing at about 4 to 5 percent per month. If the city were to drop its appeal, we are speaking about an expansion that would then cost over $4 billion in the next few years alone. I am deeply committed to ending the homelessness crisis in the city. I'm appreciative of the fact that that is a commitment shared by many New Yorkers, elected officials, and beyond. And also, I'm committed to doing so in a manner that is sustainable for both the medium and the long term. We continue to have those conversations with the Council about how we can chart exactly that course. I've said time and again that what I would like to do is take every action possible to end the homelessness crisis. I also have to be honest with New Yorkers that while we all predicted that it would be a difficult fiscal situation that we would find in January, there are very few who believe that it would be at the scale that we have found. This is a fiscal crisis that has been entirely created within City government as opposed to one that can be blamed on external factors as we've seen in 2008.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I think that outlooks are premature at this time given that we are still in the process of state budget negotiations, and I'm encouraged by the manner of those negotiations. And I'll just take us through. When we came into office, we assessed at least a $12 billion fiscal deficit. Part of what brought that 12 to 7 [billion] was the directive that we laid out for city agencies to find $1.7 billion in savings. We directed city agencies to do these through the identification of chief savings officers in every single agency and department. And so that $1.7 billion in savings is already built into how we get down to the $5.4 billion, and we're confident of being able to deliver exactly that.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, the chief savings officers were directed to provide us with reports by the 20th, which they did so. And so, we are in the process of going through those reports, and we've shared publicly a number of the recommendations they put forward that we've already approved, and we're confident in continuing that process. And when it comes to the property taxes, we laid clearly that on February 17th, the date of the preliminary budget, that should be a prospect of last resort. The path that we should pursue here in our city to bridge this fiscal deficit is one that should be done by raising taxes on the wealthiest and the most profitable corporations and ending the gap that has long been the nature of our relationship — ending the drain, rather, that has long been the nature of our relationship between the city and the state. I'm encouraged by the conversations that we're having, and we will continue to have those conversations for the next few weeks, and then we'll be putting forward our executive budget with the requisite updates soon to come. The property tax has always been something that we did not want to pursue. We laid it [out] clearly that this was a last resort. We have continued to treat it like a last resort. And what we've said to everyone, whether publicly or privately, is we want to pursue a path that doesn't put this fiscal deficit on the backs of working-class New Yorkers who had nothing to do with generating this.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceI think the right position to take is to make it easier for working-class New Yorkers to be able to afford to live in our city. And I am someone who has long been supportive of all of the measures that we take to tackle the climate crisis, and that includes the ones that we passed into law in the past years. I'm someone who supported the CLCPA in bringing it into existence.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, we're currently going through those reports. They've put forward $1.7 billion in savings, and we are going through all of the different recommendations from the agencies and the departments to approve the number of those recommendations. We've shared some of those approvals, but that will, at the time when we release this budget, it will all be public.
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the sourceSo, I'll start first. It has long been an idea that the two of us would actually sit down and have a conversation. Sometimes I think the conversation might veer to the fact that he went to Brooklyn Tech and I went to Bronx Science. I think that the conversation may also extend into that about grocery stores and about the importance of making the city a more affordable one. And also finding a way to be able to talk to each other as New Yorkers loving the same city while having fiscal and policy disagreements. And I think it's going to take all of us. It's going to take the man on the street that's yelling at me. It's going to take everyone who's here in support of this proposal. We don't want a city where anyone is made to feel as if they don't belong here. So, the conversations that we're having with the governor and with the state partners are ones that are productive. And we're looking forward to continuing those conversations. And we appreciate the fact that there are so many New Yorkers who share the same opinions as we do about the necessity of putting the city back on firm financial footing and doing so by actually confronting a structural crisis with structural solutions. I've long been clear that I believe that includes taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers, the most profitable corporations, as well as ensuring that the city's relationship with the state is a fairer one than it has been in the past. Thank you so much. ###
Zohran MamdaniCheck at the source
Every passage above is taken from this recording: NYC Mayor's Office transcripts, Transcript: Mayor Mamdani Administration Launches New Program to Deliver Affordable Housing on City-Owned Land Faster.