Mayor Zohran Mamdani's New York City

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Mamdani's plan to boost housing helps homeowners build ADUs, small apartments on their property

ADUs, sometimes called granny flats, can be basement apartments, attic conversions, an attached addition, a detached backyard unit, or a converted garage.

abc7ny.com

There is a new push to address the housing crisis in New York City as Mayor Mamdani revealed his plan Wednesday to make it easier for homeowners to turn extra space in their homes into rentable apartments. Ancillary dwelling units, or ADUs, are sometimes called granny flats and can be basement apartments, attic conversions, an attached addition, a detached backyard unit or a converted garage. Basically, they are anything that can be built on the same lot as the main house. Mayor Mamdani announced his plans to launch an online library of pre-approved ADUs, a cost-estimator, tools to cut red tape, financing up to $395,000, and a website called ADU for You. The city started taking applications again for the Plus One ADU Program that provides financial assistance to homeowners and pre-approved options meant to streamline the process. "It's certainly something that will help our broader housing challenges and it's specifically a tool to help homeowners who are struggling, help them afford the city and age in place," said NYC Deputy Mayor for Housing Leila Bozorg. ADUs, whether they are built in basements or on top of garages, are not cheap. They easily cost six figures and many properties don't quality. According to some, the rollout is short-sighted. "More housing is great, more flexibility for homeowners is great, but if we don't have the infrastructure to support that, it's madness...makes no sense," said NYC Councilmember Frank Morano. Morano represents part of Staten Island and he wants the city to make critical investments first. "Before we can talk about adding density, we need to add infrastructure, sidewalks, sewers, schools, mitigating traffic concerns, none of that is taken into account with the mayor's plan," Morano said. And while he's filed suit to gain more local oversight, the mayor hopes ADUs make living in New York City easier and more affordable.
"By making it easier for New Yorkers to turn their homes into an extra place for a loved one or a little more income, we're allowing our city to grow while keeping the character of the neighborhoods we love," Mamdani said. In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul tried, and failed, to pass legislation to incentivize municipalities to allow ADUs to be built in neighborhoods zoned for single families.

 

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Mayor Mamdani Releases Update on Savings Plan - NYC Mayor's Office

Mayor Mamdani provided an update on the City of New York’s savings plan, as part of the City’s effort to drive down the budget gap inherited from the former Administration.
“Government must deliver for working people — and every dollar in our budget must work as hard as they do. That’s why I directed every agency to find real savings and cut waste to close our budget gap. This is just the beginning of our work to improve service delivery and make city government the most efficient it can be,” said Mayor Mamdani.
Mayor Mamdani proposed a prudent, fiscally responsible preliminary budget that identifies aggressive saving measures and operational reforms. Years of underbudgeting, unfunded mandates and fiscal mismanagement under the prior Administration left New York City facing a massive deficit, described by City Comptroller Mark Levine as “the biggest budget gap since the Great Recession.” Prior to the last Administration, actual spending tended to exceed projections by approximately 3%; through the Adams Administration, underbudgeting averaged 10%.
In January, Mayor Mamdani signed Executive Order 12, establishing a Chief Savings Officer (CSO) at every City agency to review performance, eliminate waste and streamline service delivery. Agencies were required to identify savings of 1.5% for Fiscal Year 2026 and 2.5% for Fiscal Year 2027. City agencies submitted their proposals on Friday, March 20, identifying more than $1.7 billion in savings. City Hall and the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget have begun reviewing these proposals for inclusion in the Executive Budget.
In this initial review, the Mamdani Administration has grouped savings into five categories: efficiencies in public services; contracting efficiencies; technology modernization; space consolidation and lease management; and financial adjustments and new revenue. The following highlights represent an initial list of approved items:

• Department of Correction: DOC will restructure and cancel certain IT and consultant contracts bringing services in house. This will save $4.3 million in FY26.
• Department of Finance: DOF will strengthen verification to ensure recipients qualify for a primary residence co-op abatement. This will save $13 million in FY27.
• Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: DOHMH will renegotiate its naloxone contract based on lower costs achieved in other states. This will save $1.15 million in FY27.
• Department of Sanitation: DSNY will vacate underutilized office space and relocate staff to space which is being upgraded to accommodate additional employees. This will save $194,000 in FY27.
• Department of Social Services: DSS will in-source nearly two-dozen IT contracts. This will save $597,000 in FY27. DSS is also maximizing revenue for WiFi provided in shelters and partnering with OTI to renegotiate contracts, which will lead to savings of $1.3 million in FY26 and $1.8 million in FY27. DSS is also terminating their contract with McKinsey, on which nearly $9 million was spent in FY26.
• Economic Development Corporation: EDC will in-source a marketing contract, saving $626,000 in FY27.
• Fire Department: FDNY is renegotiating vendor contracts for more competitive rates saving $700,000 in FY26 and $2.2 million in FY27. It will also begin billing Medicaid and other insurers for “Treat No Transport” services following recent approvals, saving $10.1 million in FY27.
• Health + Hospitals: H+H will negotiate contract rebates, reduce reliance on temporary staffing agencies through in-sourcing, cut overtime and improve revenue collection. This will save $14.1 million in FY26 and $25.7 million in FY27.
• Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services: MONS will eliminate a consultant contract and in-source these services, saving $400,000 in FY26.
• NYC Aging: Aging will in-source a consultant contract, saving $411,000 in FY27.
• NYC Emergency Management: NYCEM will in-source a software maintenance contract. This will save approximately $63,000 in FY27. The agency will also transition certain software programs to a more cost-effective platform. This will save approximately $70,000 in FY27.
• New York City Public Schools: NYCPS will terminate underutilized contracts and implement spending caps, generating $30.3 million in savings in FY27. In addition, NYCPS will introduce controls on central office spending across supplies, equipment, professional development and travel, resulting in $27.5 million in savings in FY26.
• Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget: OMB will reduce office lease costs, saving $90,000 in FY27.
• Office of Technology and Innovation: OTI will renegotiate its' technology contracts, eliminate duplicative hardware and software and right-size consultant agreements. These actions will save $1.3 million in FY 2026 and $1.2 million in FY 2027.
• Office of Labor Relations: OLR will conduct a full audit of dependent eligibility in employee health plans. Ineligible dependents will be removed from coverage. This is expected to save approximately $100 million in FY27.
• Taxi and Limousine Commission: TLC will cancel its Slack subscription, saving nearly $20,000 in FY27.

 

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Mamdani reveals first city-run grocery store at '100 Day Address'

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed when and where the first of five government-run grocery stores will open during his “100 Day Address.”
On Sunday night, Mamdani was cheered by screaming supporters at the Knockdown Center on Flushing Avenue as he reviewed his first 100 days in office, along with looking ahead to the future of his term.
As he rattled off numbers of dropping crime rates, filled potholes and venture capitalism investment during his first few months in office, the mayor made three of what he called “transformative” announcements.

1. Mamdani reveals 1st city-run grocery store​

The mayor announced when and where the first of five city-run grocery stores will open in New York City.
The first, scheduled to open in 2027, is La Marqueta in East Harlem, Mamdani announced.
“The same market that Fiorello LaGuardia opened in 1936, so working people then could save money on fruits and vegetables,” Mamdani said. “We will continue his legacy.”
The other four grocery stores are expected to open by the end of Mamdani’s first term, according to the mayor.

2. Containerization in New York City​

Mamdani said that the city’s commitment to containerizing trash is full steam ahead. The mayor said “There will be at least one fully containerized community district in each borough” by the end of 2027.
“We will begin aggressively rolling new containers to store that trash, and new trucks to pick it up,” Mamdani said.

3. Bus commutes are getting ‘faster’​

The mayor said that bus commutes will get cut down by an average of six minutes both ways. How? By speeding up buses by up to 20 percent in 45 priority corridors. Mamdani called them “new, world-class rapid bus routes” for New Yorkers who live over a half-mile away from a subway or rail station.
“We are talking about New Yorkers who have too often been overlooked in our politics,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani said the goal will be reached through a partnership between the Department of Transportation and the MTA.

 

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https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/18/politics/mamdani-obama-meeting-new-york

Mamdani and Obama meet face-to-face in New York City​

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with former President Barack Obama on Saturday at a childcare center in the Bronx. During their first in person meeting, Mamdani and Obama greeted children and parents inside the early childhood education center and joined a group of students who sat on the floor as Obama and Mamdani read to them from a children’s book. “In between singing wheels on the bus, the two leaders discussed the Mayor’s vision for the City and the importance of giving New York’s Cutest the strongest start possible,” Mamdani press secretary Joe Calvello said in a statement. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, ran on a promise to create New York City’s first universal childcare program. As part of that effort, Mamdani’s administration has secured state funding to expand the current universal pre-K program across the city and to extend childcare for a limited number of two year olds beginning next fall. Obama and Mamdani held a brief meeting in private prior to joining the classroom for the reading event, according to a source familiar with the planning. The person said Mamdani and Obama’s team had been eager to set up a meeting between both leaders since Mamdani’s election last November, and the opportunity came together in the last few days because Obama was expected to be in New York City this weekend. Politico first reported news of the meeting. Neither Obama or Mamdani took questions from reporters in the room, they briefly waved to cameras outside the childcare center as they left the building.The two leaders spoke prior to Election Day in November, according to three sources familiar with the call. Obama told Mamdani during the call that many people would be watching to see how effectively a democratic socialist could run the nation’s largest city, and how many critics would be waiting to pounce if it went wrong. The former president also told Mamdani, whom he didn’t endorse during the 2025 election cycle, to prioritize making good hires to his administration. The conversation gave Mamdani a clearer sense of the difference between running and governing, a source familiar with the call told CNN at the time. Mamdani has met face-to-face with President Donald Trump twice. They held seemingly collegial Oval Office meetings last year and earlier this year. But Trump took to social media this week to write an all-caps post stating that Mamdani is “destroying” New York with his new pied-à-terre tax, which would require residents with second homes in the city valued over $5 million to face a surcharge. Mamdani did not say whether he has spoken to Trump since the president’s social media post, but said he wasn’t surprised Trump disagreed with the policy.

 

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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani describes his relationship with Trump as 'honest, direct and productive'

Mamdani’s comments about Trump came a day before the president criticized his proposal to raise property taxes on wealthy New York City homeowners.

www.nbcnews.com

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani describes his relationship with Trump as 'honest, direct and productive'​

Mamdani’s comments about Trump came a day before the president criticized his proposal to raise property taxes on wealthy New York City homeowners.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday called his relationship with President Donald Trump “honest, direct and productive” in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” one day before Trump said Mamdani is “destroying New York” by proposing a new property tax on wealthy New Yorkers. “He’s the president of the United States of America. I’m the mayor of New York City, and we know that so much of what the city needs is also dependent on a relationship with the federal administration,” Mamdani said in an interview marking his first 100 days in office that aired Sunday. He added that he partially credits their at times chummy relationship to the fact that “New York City holds a very special place for him as well as for me. We’re both from the same city.” “Our conversations are not just of the scale that is typical with the president, but also granular about even the things as specific as zoning law changes in midtown Manhattan, and that, I think, speaks to the fact that Donald Trump is not just the president of this country, he’s also someone who’s been a New Yorker for his entire life, and there is an investment in this,” the mayor added. Though the two have worked together and met in the Oval Office at least twice since Mamdani was elected last November, the mayor declined to comment on how often he speaks with Trump. Still, the mayor was the subject of the president’s ire this week when Trump criticized Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to institute a pied-a-terre tax on properties in New York City worth over $5 million whose owners do not primarily reside there. “Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday. “The president and I both want this city to succeed. This is how you do it,” Mamdani said Friday in response to Trump’s post. On Wednesday, Mamdani touted the pied-a-terre tax, which he says would raise $500 million for New York City to help fund some of his key priorities, like expanding free child care throughout the city. Taxing the rich in New York to pay for some of his goals was a key policy proposal for Mamdani during his campaign. “I always said that I believed in the importance of taxing the rich. This is taxing the rich,” the mayor told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “A pied-a-terre tax has been something that has long been fought for in the city but hasn’t been possible to get over the finish line. It’s been really exciting to work with the governor to win something that many thought would never have a chance,” Mamdani added. He also spoke about some of the other priorities that were central to his campaign in 2025, like expanding free child care, making public buses free in the city and opening government-run grocery stores. In March, Hochul and Mamdani launched a free child care program for up to 2,000 2-year-olds in New York City, with plans to continue expanding the program over the next several years. “On Day 8 [of the term], we announced a $1.2 billion agreement with Gov. Kathy Hochul to put our city on the pathway to universal child care,” Mamdani said. “We are not only providing free child care for every 3-year-old in the city, we’re now doing it for 2-year-olds as well. By the end of our first term, we will see every single 2-year-old receiving free child care across the five boroughs of New York City.” Last week, the mayor also announced that his administration would open the first city-run grocery store in East Harlem, the start of fulfilling a campaign promise to open at least one such store in each of the city’s five boroughs. “We’ve always said that we would have one city-run grocery store in each borough and they would provide cheaper groceries, and we’re going to do that by guaranteeing it through a basket of essential items, the kinds of things that New Yorkers need from their grocery store, but they haven’t been able to budget for,” Mamdani told “Meet the Press.” “We’re talking about bread and eggs, the staples that have been skyrocketing.” The mayor acknowledged that rising costs at the grocery store aren’t unique to the five boroughs, “but they’ve been increasing at an even higher rate in New York City. Our goal here is to deliver cheaper groceries to New Yorkers. That’s what we want the outcome to be.” Mamdani also blamed the war in Iran for prices continuing to rise in New York City and elsewhere. “While this war has exacerbated a cost-of-living crisis, that is a crisis that existed from even before the time I was running for mayor,” he said. He called for people to oppose the war “on political grounds, on moral grounds, but even just on economic grounds.” But the mayor said sometimes his friendly relationship with Trump can be helpful, like when he told the president about a Columbia University student, Elmina Aghayeva, who had been detained by the Department of Homeland Security in February. “Over the course of the meeting, I did mention that just that morning, that ICE had detained a Columbia University student. I mentioned to him that this was part of a larger trend that we had seen of five individuals being detained in or around Columbia University. I gave him a list of those five,” Mamdani told Welker. “Thirty minutes after the meeting, he called me and said he had now made the decision to release her. And so I think we see in those decisions the worth of a relationship that is both honest and direct,” he added. One of the other key campaign promises Mamdani made last year was to institute free buses in the city, a proposal that has been stalled in part due to the city’s $5.4 billion budget deficit. “We’re working with Albany right now, and we’re still confident that there is a part of the budget that could start that process of making buses free. We have one bus route free in New York City right now. We’re excited at the prospect of building that out before we deliver it for every bus route,” the mayor told “Meet the Press.” Mamdani also dismissed questions about whether he’ll be able to fulfill his campaign promises. “I’ve always been hopeful of getting two terms, and I’ve always said to New Yorkers that we would accomplish everything with however much time that we get,” the mayor said. He also fielded questions about the state of the Democratic Party nationally but said he’s more focused on New York City and winning the midterms than what is going on with his party nationally. “Here in 2026, I want to be delivering for New Yorkers, and when it comes to the national level, I want to make sure that we win these midterms and actually have a vision that we’re fighting for, not just one that we’re fighting against,” the mayor said. “I think that New Yorkers are tired of politicians pontificating about other politicians,” he added. “What they want to see are results, and that’s why my focus has been more on potholes than on politics.