Opinion: How Mamdani Can Keep His Principles And Still Do Good For NYC's Housing Market

"As an economist and city planner inclined to let markets have free rein, I didn't view democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as my ideal mayoral candidate. However, now that he has won, I would prefer that his upcoming mayoralty improve the city, rather than accelerate its decline. In a new report for the Manhattan Institute, I have outlined some good actions his administration could take to mitigate the city's housing supply crisis and jump-start its stagnating economy, without repudiating his principles."

"The potential actions Mamdani might support fall into three categories: deregulatory interventions, zoning changes to take advantage of the City Charter changes approved by voters last November concurrently with Mamdani's election, and pragmatic policy changes to mitigate the adverse consequences of past left-leaning policies. One might think that socialism and deregulation do not go together, but Mamdani's campaign gave hints that he might be willing to take on some heretofore untouchable interest groups."

"The city also retains decades-old requirements for off-street parking in new nonresidential buildings, such as offices and shopping centers. Requiring parking the developer thinks unnecessary raises costs and encourages new residents, commuters and shoppers to own and use cars, rather than public transit. Recent reform in Illinois-dubbed the "People Over Parking Act," which prohibits requiring parking in areas well-served by transit-suggests a model for changes Mamdani"

Zohran Mamdani won the mayoralty with potential openness to reforms that could expand housing supply and stimulate economic growth. Proposed actions cluster into three categories: deregulatory interventions to remove unnecessary development mandates; zoning changes leveraging recent City Charter amendments; and pragmatic policy adjustments to offset negative effects of prior left-leaning measures. Specific reforms include reducing or eliminating outdated off-street parking requirements for residential and nonresidential developments to lower construction costs and discourage unnecessary car ownership. Illinois' People Over Parking Act is presented as a policy model to guide parking reform in transit-served areas.

Read at City Limits