Mamdani: We’re Looking to Do Everything We Can to Lower Costs of Housing in New York City

EXCERPT:

MAMDANI: "You know, I think we're going to keep seeing numbers like that increase across the country, given the economic conditions that Americans are living with. As you said, the war in Iran also is not just a moral affront or a political affront, it's also an economic affront to Americans' ability to make ends meet, and that even trickles down to New Yorkers' ability to live in this city. However, the announcement we made today of a plan called Block by Block is looking to do everything we can to actually lower costs in this city because we know that at the heart of a cost of living crisis, the number one driver of that crisis is the housing crisis. And this is an announcement that does three key things: it builds 200,000 new affordable homes, preserves 200,000 affordable homes alongside it, and then additionally, it invests in tenants across the city, makes it easier to provide code enforcement for housing violations, and does all of this while investing more than $5 billion in public housing, which has long been neglected, not just in our city, but frankly, across our country."