NYC’s Socialist Future: A Roadmap to Economic Disaster

New York City, once the seat of American capitalism, may soon fall to the allure of socialism. As of Tuesday night, the city's Democrats voted for a self-proclaimed democratic socialist as their candidate in the upcoming NYC mayoral election this November. Zohran Mamdani pushes policies that will end in economic ruin, selling voters a vision that has failed everywhere from Cuba to the Soviet Union. Mamdani has promised to make New York more affordable. How does he plan to do that? Through "unleash[ing] the public sector," price controls, government control of private property, and raising the minimum wage.

Let's go through his economic platform in detail and what more socialism would mean for New York City.

His first and most popular policy is a disastrous attempt to make housing more affordable. He promises to build 200,000 more units of 'rent-stabilized' homes over the next 10 years, and to initiate a rent freeze for the 2 million New Yorkers who already live in rent-stabilized homes. Mamdani believes that currently, the city government "works for the landlords," and has made clear he thinks landlords are an enemy of the people. Socialist class warfare in its flesh and blood. He vows to use "all available resources," ie, government, to bring down costs. The government is what got New York in trouble in the first place. 

Rent-stabilized apartments are already in serious trouble in New York. According to The American Enterprise Institute and Mark Willis of the Furman Center on Real Estate at NYU, "owners of rent-stabilized properties in The Bronx are, on average, losing a stunning  $120 per month on every apartment, such that 200,000 units, concentrated in that borough, are under 'severe distress.' " Shockingly, even if you freeze the rent, utilities and other regular costs incurred by landlords continue to increase.

The lack of revenue made by landlords limits their ability to effectively care for and manage the property. So much so that "in its 2023 New York Housing and Vacancy Survey, the Census Bureau found that rent-regulated buildings had higher rates of rodents, leaks, mold, and heating breakdowns than market-rate units." These issues decrease the value of the properties, which discourages banks from giving out loans to help fund repairs. Property owner groups say that a rent freeze will crush them.