thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
Zohran Mamdani, the Everywhere Mayor
On your phone, on the street, on Taxi TV—you’ve been seeing New York’s new leader wherever you turn, whether you want to or not.
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- Thread starter thettctransitfanatic
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UtakataNoAnnex
Superstar
Does anyone know what their library funding kerfuffle was all about? Sounded like Zohran drop the ball on that issue...
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
''The preliminary budget released Tuesday keeps funding for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation essentially flat, at roughly half the 1% of the total budget Mamdani had pledged. At the same time, spending for the city’s library systems comes in below the 0.5% benchmark advocates sought and Mamdani endorsed on the campaign trail, landing at about 0.39% of the budget instead''.
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
Northern Light
Superstar
Important to note here, the new Mayor of NYC has been left with a giant budgetary hole that if not baled out in some fashion by the State will result in a tax hike of 9.5% or greater.
This seriously impairs his ability to deliver new spending, since it will potentially require a large tax hike just to maintain services, never mind enhance them.
He'll be expected to deliver at least some of his agenda items, but I expect they will be curtailed substantially in exchange for State largesse.
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
Inside Mamdani’s $21B housing pitch to Trump at Sunnyside Yard
The complex would be built on top of the Sunnyside train yard in Queens. The mayor hopes to secure a $21 billion federal grant to build it.
Inside Mamdani’s $21B housing pitch to Trump at Sunnyside Yard
- In a secret White House meeting, Mayor Zohran Mamdani pitched President Trump on securing more than $21 billion in federal grants to deck over Sunnyside Yard in Queens and build 12,000 affordable homes, the largest single housing project in NYC since 1973.
- The plan would construct a massive platform above the 180 acre Amtrak rail yard, creating space for thousands of apartments, 60 acres of public space, new schools, libraries, child care centers and health clinics.
- Because Sunnyside Yard is owned by Amtrak and serves roughly 780 trains daily, the project requires federal backing, making Trump’s support critical to unlocking what Mamdani calls a "once in a generation" housing investment.
What we know: At the center of the proposal is a plan to build a massive deck over the 180 acre rail yard, the busiest in North America, creating new land for housing, schools and public space. Mamdani is seeking more than $21 billion in federal grants to make it happen.
I did something that I am truly reluctant to do. I left New York City. I traveled down to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump in the Oval Office.
— NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
"New York City is facing a generational affordability challenge," Mamdani said after the meeting. "Working families are being priced out of the neighborhoods they built. To meet this moment, we need a true federal partner prepared to invest boldly and act urgently."
Mayor Mamdani told the president the project would result in "more housing in any single project than our city has seen since 1973."
According to 6sqft, a master plan released by the city’s Economic Development Corporation in 2020 called for a $14.4 billion deck over roughly 80 percent of Sunnyside Yard.
Largest affordable housing development in 40 years
Why you should care:The platform would allow for 12,000 affordable apartments, split evenly between rentals for very low and extremely low income families and Mitchell Lama style homeownership units. If completed, it would be the largest affordable housing development built in New York City since Co-op City opened in the Bronx in 1973.
The President was interested in the idea, and I look forward to the ensuing conversations about how to build more housing in a city that doesn't have enough of it.
— NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani
The broader plan envisions 60 acres of new public space, 10 to 12 new schools, public libraries, child care centers and health care facilities, effectively creating an entirely new mixed-use community above active train tracks.
Sunnyside Yard is owned and operated by Amtrak and serves as a critical rail hub, with roughly 780 trains running through it daily along the Northeast Corridor and the Long Island Rail Road Main Line, as well as routes used by NJ Transit, according to 6sqft.
What's next:
Because the site is federally controlled, any redevelopment would require federal approval.
In a press release following the Oval Office meeting, Mayor Mamdani said he "underscored the city’s commitment to transparency, fiscal responsibility and collaboration in deploying federal funds, ensuring every dollar delivers safe, affordable housing for New Yorkers."
He added that "both parties agreed to continue discussions" in the weeks ahead.
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thettctransitfanatic
Senior Member
MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor condemns U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as protests and celebrations erupt across city | amNewYork
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1, marked the 59th and 60th days of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100
www.amny.com
MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor condemns U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as protests and celebrations erupt across city | amNewYork
Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1, marked the 59th and 60th days of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100
www.amny.com
MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: Mayor condemns U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as protests and celebrations erupt across city
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani maintained a light schedule this weekend, visiting with nurses on Saturday as they celebrated the end of their long strike with a trip to the bowling alley, and marching in the Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown on Sunday. But the weekend of celebrations was overshadowed by the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which Mamdani strongly condemned as “an illegal war of aggression.” The strikes began on Feb. 28 and resulted in retaliatory air strikes from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard amid the reported death of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the nation for 37 years. More than 200 people have died in Iran due to the strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.Mayor Mamdani affirmed his solidarity with Iranian-Americans in New York City and wrote in a post on X that the attack marks “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”
“Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace,” Mamdani wrote.
He also wrote that City Hall and the New York Police Department had begun taking “proactive steps” to protect New Yorkers’ safety following the attacks, “including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution.”
“Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here,” Mayor Mamdani wrote.
Speaking to Pix11 on Saturday, Mayor Mamdani said that Americans “do not want another war in pursuit of regime change, we want an answer to the affordability crisis.”
“I may be a young mayor, but I am old enough to remember the devastating consequences of our country’s pursuit of regime change in the same region not that many years ago,” Mayor Mamdani said, referring to the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq under President George W. Bush.
Iranian state media began reporting on Saturday that Khamenei had been killed in the attack. President Donald Trump, Israel, and Iran all confirmed Khamenei’s killing.
Mayor Mamdani has long been critical of Trump’s foreign policy, condemning in January the U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.