An Early Forecast
One week into the Mamdani administration, early signals on housing, transit, and childcare
RSVP for our January 13 happy hour and Community Board mixer! From 6-7pm we’ll welcome current and prospective CB members, then from 7-9pm we’ll have general abundance mingling.
It’s been just over a week since Mayor Mamdani’s frigid inauguration ceremony, and New Yorkers are enjoying unseasonably balmy weather. Could it be the warmth of collectivism? Or the heat of a thousand takes?
One week in, the picture is coming into focus. In its first days, City Hall has paired big symbolic gestures with early policy signals—particularly on some of our biggest issues. Our take isn’t especially hot: like other abundance advocates, including former skeptics, we find Mamdani’s early moves promising.
Here’s what stands out, and what this first week suggests about the early forecast.
Housing Developments—and Drama
Among Mamdani’s first executive orders were the creation of two task forces to speed up housing development in the city, the LIFT (Land Inventory Fast Track) and SPEED (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) task forces. While these committees won’t generate immediate change, they signal a seriousness about cutting red tape and making it easier to build.
Garnering more attention was the mayor’s appointment of tenant activist Cea Weaver to lead a revamped Office to Protect Tenants. Days after her appointment, Weaver’s old tweets on capitalism, homeownership, and gentrification resurfaced, drawing national attention and sparking a feeding frenzy for Mamdani’s opponents.
Abundance commentators have pointed to her more recent actions as indicative of a pro-abundance shift: she supported last year’s housing charter amendments and opposed recent Council bills that would make it harder and more costly to build affordable housing. They also note that Weaver’s role is constrained to tenant protections, not housing development more broadly.
At the same time, the dramatic news cycle around Weaver’s appointment was an unfortunate stumble for the administration, which has otherwise made some inspired housing picks in Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy, and Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani. We’ll be watching this space, particularly in light of abundance champion Dan Garodnick’s announcement that he’ll be stepping down as Department of City Planning Director and City Planning Commission Chair.
Symbolism and Substance on the Streetscape
When Mamdani chose to take his oath of office at a decommissioned subway station near City Hall, transit advocates gushed that, for the first time, their mayor was one of them: a New Yorker who saw both the romance and the frustration of our transit system—and who would fight to revitalize it.
Since his swearing-in, the Mayor has taken both symbolic and substantive action on transit. As a small but meaningful gesture, he paved the “bike bump” at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge. More significantly, he announced the reinstatement of a full safety redesign of McGuinness Boulevard, a project watered down by Eric Adams amid allegations of a bribery scheme involving Ingrid Lewis-Martin. And he appointed Mike Flynn, a well-respected DOT veteran and champion of people-first streets, as DOT Commissioner; in this role, he’ll deliver on one half of Mamdani’s promise to make buses fast and free (the “free” part depends on negotiations with Hochul, who has demurred on funding commitments).
Outside of Mamdani’s early signals, there’s been much to celebrate on the streetscape. Monday marked the year anniversary of congestion pricing, which has reduced major injuries by 15%, reduced noise complaints, sped up buses and commutes, increased transit ridership, and exceeded targeted revenue generation for the MTA. There’s more work to do to increase revenue and further reduce congestion, from reforming how taxis and ride shares are charged in the zone to implementing dynamic pricing to expanding the congestion relief zone.
A Coup for Childcare
Yesterday, Governor Hochul joined Mayor Mamdani to announce a $4.5B investment in childcare, a first step toward fulfilling Mamdani’s promise of universal childcare for New York City families. Hochul’s plan would expand pre-K statewide, fix issues with the city’s existing 3K program to make it truly universal, and launch 2-Care in the city, piloting the program in high-need areas before expanding it more broadly in subsequent years.
It was an exciting show of unity between two executives with significant ideological differences; and while we anticipate them butting heads on other large-ticket budget items, we’re eager to see what can happen when they’re aligned on abundance issues.
Indeed, childcare expansion will test both administrations’ commitment to streamlining government delivery and cutting red tape. From reforming outdated regulations requiring daycares on first floors to uniting a patchwork of small providers into a single system to streamlining multi-agency review of business permits, launching this program will require strong, abundance-minded leadership. Here, we’re pleased to see the appointment of Emmy Liss (who served as COO of early education during the roll-out of universal pre-K and 3K) to lead the Mayor’s Office of Child Care.
One week does not make a mayoralty—but it does set expectations. So far, Mamdani has shown an instinct for symbolism alongside a willingness to challenge entrenched processes. We’ll be watching closely, and doing what we can both to help the new administration (including through referring abundance-minded talent to their hiring team) and to hold it accountable.