Zohran Mamdani has been criticized for fantastical proposals, including free day care, free buses, a $70 billion bond issue, a $30-an-hour minimum wage and 200,000 union-built homes built for $500,000 apiece.
Campaign platforms might be irresponsible or even dishonest, but “whatever works” has become an accepted strategy — one that seems to have helped Mamdani, who leads his main competition in the mayoral election, Andrew Cuomo, by 13 points in the latest poll (more on that below).
Cuomo seems to have gotten the message. At a Crain’s mayoral forum on Wednesday, the former governor said: “The big project has to be 500,000 units of affordable housing on 300 sites simultaneously. I think that’s the first big project.”
That makes Mamdani’s pie-in-the-sky ideas seem mundane.
Cuomo’s initial housing plan was to build or preserve 500,000 units over 10 years. Now he’s saying build (forget preserving) 500,000 all at once. And not just any units — affordable ones. Those require subsidies.
The number of 1,000-unit projects being built in the city at any given time is in the single digits. To say we should attack the housing crisis by building 300 of them at once is like saying Daenerys Targaryen should have conquered the Seven Kingdoms by hatching 300 dragons instead of three. (Yes, I miss “Game of Thrones.”)
Even if Cuomo could find 300 sites for projects averaging 1,667 affordable units, and the money to finance them, I don’t think there would be enough tower cranes to build them. Or tower crane operators, for that matter.
Getting licensed as a tower crane operator in the city typically requires getting into the International Union of Operating Engineers’ training program. As mayor, Mike Bloomberg tried to break the union’s stranglehold on the process, a fight that Bill de Blasio continued. (For this and other reasons, tower crane operators are in high demand and can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.)
I cannot think of a single element of Cuomo’s statement that is even remotely feasible. The least absurd one would be finding 300 sites for big developments. But that would require buying or condemning (by eminent domain) a lot of private property, which alone would take years. This is so not happening.
What we’re thinking about: Office sublet queen Ruth Colp-Haber wrote in her entertaining newsletter that 1,000-unit projects “here and there” are nice but not enough to meet demand, so the next mayor should launch a competition for architects and developers to pitch “visionary new projects and even new neighborhoods.”
Big housing ideas have been floated: Comptroller Brad Lander suggested developing on four city golf courses. Mike Bloomberg called for dredging the harbor and using fill to extend the Lower East Side into the water. Bill de Blasio wanted to deck over Sunnyside Yard. Mayor Eric Adams swapped land to the Port Authority to do a $3.5 billion Brooklyn Marine Terminal development that promises 6,000 homes.
What’s your big housing idea? Send thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The 467m office-to-residential conversion incentive doesn’t require “family-size” units, unlike many other politically driven programs. That flexibility is good: New York City has many childless adults and couples doing the roommate thing because small units are in short supply.
Also, office conversions create tricky layouts not conducive to multiple bedrooms. Marty Burger and Andrew Heiberger’s conversion of 29 West 35th Street will be all studios, and 5 Times Square by RXR, SL Green and Apollo will be 1,050 studios and 200 one-bedrooms.
Elsewhere…
A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday — Quinnipiac’s first since a Sept. 10 poll in which Adams was at 12 percent — found Cuomo’s support grew by 10 points and Mamdani’s by 1 point. This suggests that nearly all Adams voters moved to Cuomo, who still trails Mamdani 46 percent to 33 percent.
The poll also found 48 percent of likely voters felt Mamdani would do the best job of lowering housing costs, and 25 percent said Cuomo would. That was the only issue on which Mamdani bested his top-line 46 percent number. He did worse on managing the schools (41 percent), public safety (35 percent) and growing the economy (35 percent).
Quinnipiac also asked likely voters which candidate’s views were closest to their own on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Forty-one percent said Mamdani and 26 percent said Cuomo. That might come as a shock to members of the real estate industry who consider Mamdani’s position on Israel to be disqualifying.
Closing time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Thursday was $8.4 million for a 3,162-square-foot condominium unit at 104 Wooster Street in Soho. Danny Davis, Lisa Balbuena and Lisa Davis of the Corcoran Group had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $25 million for a 71,180-square-foot office building. Marty Burger and Andrew Heiberger plan to convert the property to 107 studio apartments.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $42 million for a 5,000-square-foot co-op at 55 Central Park West. The Nickman O’Neal Team at Douglas Elliman has the listing.
— Matthew Elo
