Henry Rosoff: Mr. Mayor, thanks for sitting down with us.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Thank you for having me.
Rosoff: So, break down your new housing plan, because it's not like Mayor Eric Adams and the previous Council didn't try this. They actually greenlit a lot of housing and there's a lot in this plan, but what makes it different? What's the secret sauce you're gonna do to try to build out this much housing?
Mayor Mamdani: So, this plan, which we've called "Block by Block," has three critical components. The first is how much housing we're going to be building and preserving. We are going to be building for the first time in New York City history 200,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years and preserving 200,000 affordable homes over the same period of time. So, that brings us to 400,000 homes. The second critical piece is we're investing in tenants. We're investing in code enforcement and actually ensuring that tenants have a habitable place to call their home. And the third is we're investing more money into NYCHA than this city has seen in decades: $5.6 billion over the next five years, so that NYCHA residents don't have to continue to be overlooked and ignored in our city's politics.
Rosoff: I don't think anyone's going to dispute that 200,000 new homes is a lot, 200,000 preserved homes is a lot. That being said, the Regional Plan Association looked at this – I believe it was last year – and said the number needs to be frankly 500,000 homes. So, why'd you pick that 200,000 number?
Mayor Mamdani: So, this is what the city is doing ourselves, and what that means is the most ambitious plan we've ever seen for affordable housing as one part of a larger housing goal of what we'll see produced across the five boroughs, including from the private sector. But what's so critically important is – you know as well as I do – a lot of New Yorkers, when they see buildings going up in their neighborhood, they sometimes ask themselves, "Is this going to be built for me? Is this going to be room for the New Yorker's who are being priced out"? This housing that we're talking about, it's going to be affordable for New Yorkers, not just housing being built across the city.
Rosoff: You've talked repeatedly when asked about, "What about the landlords"? – about the programs that already exist for them. Are you adding any new programs to support landlords in this proposal who feel distressed or feel like they can't keep up and keep homes over people's heads?
Mayor Mamdani: We are adding a number of programs. One of them is a program around insurance. We've seen the insurance for affordable housing developers skyrocket more than 100 percent over the last few years. We're actually beginning a city-backed insurance program that should cut those costs. Additionally, one of the things we've heard from a number of developers and landlords is the time it takes to actually set up affordable housing in the city. That's something that we're actually cutting across the board through a task force that's called SPEED, which we launched on the first day and have now just announced the investments in.
Rosoff: Moving on to some other topics and some recent polling we did of the big congressional races around town, you were seen favorably by 66 percent of Democrats in New York's 12th congressional district – that as you know is Midtown, Upper East [and] Upper West Side.
Mayor Mamdani: I live there.
Rosoff: One of the – there you go. Yes, you are a voting resident. So, let me phrase it this way. Who are you voting for in the Democratic primary?
Mayor Mamdani: I did that to myself, didn't I?
Rosoff: Yeah, you did. Who are you voting for?
Mayor Mamdani: I haven't made any decisions as [of] yet, but I am following the race as a keen constituent.
Rosoff: As someone who's so popular in the district, is it your intent to weigh in on this race before the voting begins?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, at this time, I would say that I focus on the two decisions I've made thus far for Brad Lander for Congress as well as for Claire Valdez for Congress.
Rosoff: In [District] 10 and 7.
Mayor Mamdani: Yes. But if I have any additional endorsements, I will be sure to share.
Rosoff: Not Micah Lasher, not Alex Bores, your former colleague[s]?
Mayor Mamdani: It was a pleasure to serve with both of them in all Albany.
Rosoff: In the upcoming World Cup, the hotel reservations – we talked about this a month ago – they're still lagging behind. Are you beginning to get worried about the economic impact?
Mayor Mamdani: I'm still looking forward to the World Cup and what it will bring to the city. We've started to roll out a number of different initiatives, whether it be 26 for 26 – a deal for New Yorkers and tourists to actually be able to eat across the city. And we're going to actually rolling out a passport that will take people beyond just midtown to the five boroughs of our city. And you can see the excitement. We rolled out [these] thousand tickets for $50 just for New Yorkers. First day, the lottery was open, we said there was a cap of 50,000 entries. Hit that in three minutes. Today, 88 seconds.
Rosoff: So, it got faster today.
Mayor Mamdani: It got faster.
Rosoff: So, let's talk about tickets though. Because I know you're excited about the Knicks going to the finals.
Mayor Mamdani: I am.
Rosoff: Secondary markets already showing tickets at around $3,000 just to get in the door. Face value, it's around $1,500 if you can even get it. We were just chatting beforehand. I tried five minutes ago; I couldn't get a face-value ticket. Will you do a similar thing you're doing with the World Cup to try and gather some face-value tickets and give them to everyday New Yorkers who otherwise wouldn't be allowed to go, like you did with the World Cup?
Mayor Mamdani: You know, my belief is a universal belief around ticket prices, that sports should not become a luxury commodity. And sadly, we've seen that be the case across so many of the sports teams that we care about, including not just the World Cup, but yes, as you said, with the finals coming up for the first time since 1999 in our city. And so, we're going to look at everything that we can do. I don't want to make a promise I can't keep, but this is something that I am very passionate about.
Rosoff: If the World Cup will begin right around the time the Knicks may be playing Game 6 and 7, is there particular concern – especially after what we saw last night when the Knicks won the East – about what will happen in Midtown if there's that confluence of World Cup games, Knicks celebrations, are you worried about what's going to happen in Midtown?
Mayor Mamdani: I'm not, I'm not. I think that New Yorkers are going to have a great time. I think this is going to be a summer to remember. And I think it's also going to be a safe summer, we're doing all those things at the same time.
Rosoff: You're going to bring back the outdoor viewing party?
Mayor Mamdani: We're going to have a lot of viewing parties for the finals.
Rosoff: But the outdoor one by [inaudible].
Mayor Mamdani: We're going to figure out where they are.
Rosoff: Thank you mayor, I appreciate your time.
Mayor Mamdani: Thank you.