The Wall Street Journal had an interesting piece (reposted on Realtor.com) about New York City’s Mayoral primary that subsequently took place on June, 24th. Their article suggested that NYC’s housing crisis has reached such epic proportions that a Democratic Socialist might be the next mayor. Since its publication, extreme left-leaning candidate Zohran Mamdani won the Democrat primary election effectively making him the next Mayor of New York, since the Democrat Party dominates city elections.
The WSJ says NYC’s housing crisis has hit a new level, even by New York City standards, with vacancy rates recently dropping to a record 1.4% – the lowest since 1968. In addition, (Citing Zumper numbers) they point out that the monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment has climbed 17.5% over the past year to $5,560 – the most of any U.S. city.
However, the WSJ says Mamdani’s momentum could be a sign that renters are even more desperate and are looking for immediate relief in the most expensive and competitive rental market in the city’s history. Stay tuned…. According to the article:
The 33-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist from Queens has made housing a core piece of his agenda, unexpectedly catapulting him toward the front of the race.
Mamdani is pledging to freeze rents on rent-stabilized apartments, invest $70 billion in publicly subsidized housing, open up public land for housing development and more. The agenda, along with promises of free bus rides and government-owned grocery stores, have put him in a dead heat with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for Tuesday’s primary.
Developers and landlords are critical of Mamdani’s platform. They say that a rent freeze would discourage any new investment or even spending on maintaining existing units. And they are already dealing with the impacts of New York City’s 2019 rent laws, which made it harder to increase prices on the city’s more than one million rent-regulated units.
Click here to read the full story at Realtor.com
Click here to read the full story at the Wall Street Journal.
