“New York City, breathe this moment in. We have held our breath for longer than we know. We have held it in anticipation of defeat, held it because the air has been knocked out of our lungs too many times to count, held it because we cannot afford to exhale thanks to all of those who sacrificed so much. We are breathing in the air of a that has been reborn.” – Zohran Mamdani. On November 4th, 2025, New York City Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani was elected as the first-ever Muslim mayor, and the first-ever Asian American mayor of the most expensive city in America. After months of relentless campaigning and engagement efforts, 34-year-old Mamdani won the election by almost 200,000 votes (8.8 percentage points), surpassing incumbent Mayor Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani will not take office until January 1, but he has already made specific promises to improve NYC society. His main focus is affordability – affordable housing, groceries, childcare, and more. As Mamdani said, “Every politician says New York is the greatest city on the globe. But what good is that if no one can afford to live here?” Mamdani has talked the talk, but what will he actually do to make New York City more affordable?
“As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent,” according to Mamdani’s campaign website. Freezing the rent would do wonders for many New Yorkers who struggle to pay their bills and are being forced to move away from their city. According to the Visual Capitalist, New York City has the most expensive rent for a city in the World. Mamdani aims to change that to make life better for millions of New Yorkers.
According to Fox Business, nearly 9 in 10 New Yorkers say that the price of groceries is rising faster than their income. Mamdani aims to change that with his city-owned grocery stores initiative, where the city will cover the store’s rent and property taxes, and the store will partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing. This initiative, if it is successful, will significantly lower the cost of groceries across the city.
Another one of Mamdani’s plans is to provide new mothers in NYC with baby baskets. These baskets will contain “a collection of essential goods and resources, free of charge, including items like diapers, baby wipes, nursing pads, post-partum pads, swaddles, and books,” according to Mamdani’s campaign website. The baskets will also contain resources that will help moms navigate their new lifestyles as new mothers, increasing trust in the government and the city overall.
These were just some of the many promises Mamdani made in his campaign. Overall, Mamdani aims to make NYC more affordable for the 20 million people who live there, and to make New Yorkers love their city again without having to worry about the downsides. As Mamdani concluded, “Let the words we’ve spoken together, the dreams we’ve dreamt together, become the agenda we deliver together. New York, this power, it’s yours. This city belongs to you.”
