Most New Yorkers don’t want a mayor who wants to "Defund the Police" and globalize the intifada. Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is gaining traction for one reason: the unbearable cost of living.
In 2023, 25 percent of renters in the city spent half of their income on rent. Over 40 percent of renters spent over 30%, which is the federal threshold for housing affordability.
Mayor Eric Adams can beat Mamdani — and his band of socialists — with better ideas.
We don’t have to choose between socialism and the status quo. Fortunately, there’s a better way forward.
Earlier this year, former Councilman Ben Kallos presented 18 housing proposals to the Charter Revision Commission. These proposals are progressive enough to pass the City Council, yet pragmatic enough to work.
Unlike Mamdani’s agenda, which could drive out the city’s tax base, the Kallos plan is designed to retain it — by expanding housing supply, restoring affordability, and empowering communities to grow without undermining public safety or economic stability.
If Mayor Adams and the Council enact these measures before November, they could offer real help to renters — and save the city from sliding into democratic socialism.
Democrats control 45 of 51 Council seats.
If they can’t pass housing reform now, voters won’t trust them to do it later.
Mamdani is succeeding because politicians have failed them.
When politicians don’t have any answers to their problems, voters will turn to a demagogue.
Rent freezes won’t solve the problem. The real issue is supply.
A recent NBER study found that while U.S. housing stock grew from 36 million units in 1950 to 144 million by 2023, the rate of new construction has plummeted.
According to the NBER study, "In the 1950s, the housing stock grew at four percent per year. That rate declined every decade until the 2000s, when it flattened out at just over one percent per year.
"The construction rate then dropped again in the 2010s, when the average annual rate of growth in the stock was an anemic 0.64 percent per year."
New York City mirrors this trend.
In the 1920s, New York City added 729,000 new units.
That number plunged to 205,000 units built in the 1930s and 167,000 in the 1940s.
After the war, construction surged: 322,000 units in the 1950s and 369,000 in the 1960s. Since then, the pace has collapsed.
In the 2010s, the city built only 169,000 new homes — even as the city added more than 600,000 people.
Today, almost 90,000 rent-regulated apartments remain vacant, many requiring repairs landlords can’t afford. Meanwhile, an estimated 20,000 units were effectively removed from the rental market by illegal short-term rentals.
The Kallos plan doesn’t just unlock what’s empty; it jumpstarts growth. It cuts red tape, streamlines zoning, and empowers homeowners to build again.
The 18 proposals fall into these categories:
Unlock Supply Now: Tax long-vacant units, fund repairs to regulated apartments, and purchase available market-rate units to house families in shelters.
Make Affordability Real: Tie affordability to neighborhood median incomes, not inflated regional figures that let individuals earning $179,000 qualify for "affordable" housing. Require one-for-one replacement of demolished rent-regulated units and mandate more family-sized apartments.
Cut Red Tape: Automate permitting. Set expiration dates on rezonings to reduce land speculation and bureaucratic delays.
Empower Communities: Fund community-led rezoning and let homeowners add extra units — like in-law suites or basement apartments — on their lots.
Expand Accessibility: Require elevators in new affordable housing and mandate subway accessibility upgrades when new buildings rise overhead.
Incentivize Infrastructure: Give zoning bonuses to developers who include schools or shelters in underserved districts.
History offers a warning — and a lesson. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey trailed Richard Nixon by 16 points coming out of the convention.
As vice president, Humphrey refused to break with Johnson who was unpopular for his handling of the Vietnam War.
In September 1968, Vice President Humphrey pledged to unilaterally halt the bombing of North Vietnam to advance peace negotiations.
That move triggered a late surge, and Humphrey only lost by less than one percent.
Vice President Kamala Harris, by contrast, never broke with President Biden.
When Sunny Hostin of ABC's "The View" asked what she would do differently, Harris said nothing. That moment cost her the presidency.
Rather than acknowledging voter frustration or presenting a plan to combat inflation differently than Biden, she came off as a loyal soldier for an unpopular administration.
The lesson is clear: when the public wants change, our elected officials must offer new ideas — or lose.
Humphrey narrowly lost the election because he waited too long to break with Johnson. Harris never even tried.
If Mayor Adams and the City Council adopt the Kallos plan, they won’t just defeat Mamdani — they’ll earn the trust of millions of renters.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer. His work focuses on foreign affairs, national security, and presidential history. He's been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, The Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.