Mamdani’s rent freeze faces keyboard vote
The final vote on June 25 could pass a rent freeze for about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in Mamdani City. Public hearings will be held throughout New York.
In Zoran Mamdani’s first executive budget, the city relies heavily on state aid to dig itself out of a multibillion-dollar hole.
The mayor, along with Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced approximately $8 billion in additional state aid over the next two years. The governor recently said the city needed to review its spending when Mamdani asked for more support.
Here’s everything you need to know about Mamdani’s spending plan.
mamdani budget gap
On May 12, the mayor’s office announced an administrative spending plan that includes a balanced budget, which is a legal requirement. The total executive budget for fiscal year 2027 is $124.7 billion.
Mamdani has previously claimed that his government inherited a $12 billion budget gap from the previous government and had “consistently and deliberately underestimated” the deficit.
In his new budget proposal, the mayor showed heavy reliance on Hochul, who is soon up for re-election.
On Tuesday, May 12, the same day the budget was released, they announced that Hochul and the state Legislature had “secured an additional $4 billion in gap support, bringing total new state aid to nearly $8 billion over two years.”
The move seemed like a setback for the governor. Late last month, Mamdani called for more state aid to fill a budget gap that still totals about $5 billion. In response, Hochul said the city needs to take a closer look at its spending.
In February, Mr. Hochul pledged to send an additional $1.5 billion to New York City over two years to help with the fiscal crisis.
In late April, after Mamdani asked the state for more help, she explained that she had “injected $1.5 billion in fairly unrestricted funds into the city to help the city come up with a plan.” “What they’re doing is trying to find a way forward, and we’ve been encouraging the speaker and the mayor to do what every other city should do: take a hard look at spending.”
“We have supported them, and we have already said that if we need to make some changes to the budget to give them legislative authority to do certain things like write off pensions or write off police vehicles, we would be happy to put it in the budget, but we don’t have to put it in the budget.”
Mamdani’s administration, along with seeking budget support from the state, wanted to reduce the tax credit for New York City pass-through entities from 100 percent to 75 percent, with the city keeping the remaining 25 percent.
The changes will put approximately $1 billion back into the city’s pockets and “continue to save New York City residents federal taxes,” the city said in a news release.
However, Ho-chul quickly stops that idea when Mamdani’s phone call refutes him.
“We are not going to change PTET,” she said at a press conference last month. “That’s not happening.”
The two have otherwise maintained a good working relationship, announcing a new pied-à-terre tax proposal in April that plans to add an annual levy to one- to three-unit homes, condos and co-ops worth more than $5 million if the owners have another primary residence outside the city. This is one way Mamdani is considering taxing the wealthy, which is expected to raise $500 million a year.
Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
