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At her State of the State address earlier this month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul rightly put affordability front and center, highlighting—among other promises—her new multibillion-dollar investment in universal childcare with Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Starting at the city level and now clearly expanding statewide, Mamdani has set an example for tackling the cost-of-living crisis—an approach that is gaining traction across the country and the political aisle.
As a leader charged with modernizing the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and as a former federal official who worked to limit corporate overreach, I can see that the new mayoral administration already knows what the 32nd president knew: Affordability crises aren’t solved by rhetoric alone—they abate when leaders use government to benefit people first. Economic well-being is ultimately about power. That’s why the administration’s early moves to protect tenants and investigate landlords, go after junk fees and hidden charges, and empower Commissioner Samuel Levine to lead an aggressive Department of Consumer and Worker Protection matter: They center everyday New Yorkers, shifting power toward them and away from concentrated wealth.
These plans to treat affordability as a question of using the levers of government, not just good intentions, were put into action well before Mamdani took the oath of office. Under Lina Khan’s leadership, the transition team moved quickly to identify tools the city government already has to curb corporate power, rein in exploitative pricing, ease regulatory burdens that fall heaviest on small businesses, and enforce the law in ways that lower prices for consumers. That’s the difference between promising affordability and building the capacity to deliver it.
Equally important was defining the problem correctly and approaching it comprehensively. The mayor has tied proposals like a rent freeze, public grocery stores, and free buses to the real cost pressures facing younger and lower- and middle-income New Yorkers. He also named the side of the affordability crisis that often gets ignored: incomes. That’s why he has proposed a wage floor—raising the city’s minimum wage to $30 by 2030—so that affordability isn’t just about lowering costs, but increasing what people take home for their hard work.
What truly distinguishes this approach is that Mamdani treats people-centered policymaking as a source of governing power, not just popular appeal. He has invested in building a sense of belonging that is now translating into sustained civic engagement. Knocking on doors offered young people not only a political platform, but a way to connect with one another and to the work of governing. For many of the city’s youngest voters, the campaign became an entry point into civic participation. This organizing wasn’t purely transactional. It was relational, bringing people together and building durable community ties. It was the Aunties for Zohran—older immigrant women—who set up tables, talked to neighbors, and tapped in people who might otherwise have remained isolated from the political process. The result is a base of supporters who are connected, organized, and able to maintain momentum through implementation. Just one example is the organization Our Time NYC, which was established to sustain pressure around the campaign’s core demands.
Already, the mayor is empowering this network to support policy implementation by establishing direct lines of communication with the city’s residents through a new Office of Mass Engagement. This matters because it makes clear that the government’s policymaking priorities should align with the problems people actually experience. When people see private equity firms scoop up housing or landlords use algorithmic tracking to jack up rents and threaten eviction, they expect their government to act. That’s the expectation that Rental Ripoff Hearings are meant to fulfill—to give people an opportunity to voice the impact of landlord abuse and shape the policy response to it.
I’ve seen, up close, the difference between a government that confronts powerful interests and one that looks the other way. That choice—whether to act or to defer—shapes how much control people ultimately have over their own lives. The mayor’s success will depend on whether New Yorkers feel more secure in their finances and less at the mercy of companies and employers. It will be seen in how they are able to spend not just their money, but their free time. By not only vowing to take on the affordability crisis but bringing people along for the fight, the Mamdani administration hopes to restore power to New Yorkers in all aspects of their life: in their jobs, on the subway, and at Yankees games.
What happens in America’s biggest city matters because it shows how other leaders can use the authority they already have to listen, act, and change the possibilities for how people can live their lives. From Virginia to Seattle, policymakers are adopting Mamdani’s people-first approach, and as he turns vision into results, he’s paving the way for greater economic freedom nationwide.
Fireside Stacks is a weekly newsletter from Roosevelt Forward about progressive politics, policy, and economics. If you enjoyed this installment, consider sharing it with your friends.
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