New York, NY – On May 26, 2026 Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani held a press conference at NYC Hall to present his city housing plan titled: Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era. I attended this important press conference that discussed the Mayor’s program that will both preserve and expand NYC housing.
This blueprint aims to tackle the deepening housing crisis in the Big Apple from new construction to tenant protections to public housing. The plan lays out a comprehensive strategy to make New York City more affordable for working people.
“At a moment when working people are being pushed out of the city they built, New York cannot afford half-measures or delays,” said Mayor Mamdani. “This plan meets the housing crisis with the urgency it demands. We are setting the most ambitious housing production and preservation targets in the city’s modern history – and backing them up with investments to match – while also protecting tenants and homeowners, investing in public housing and ensuring the workers building that housing have good-paying, safe jobs. We must fight for both the tenants of today and the tenants of tomorrow. Block by Block shows how New York City can do exactly that.”
Block by Block details how NYC will build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve another 200,000 affordable apartments over the next decade. The project is backed by a historic $22 billion capital investment in housing over the next five years. This investment is paired with an ambitious land use agenda to boost housing production across the five boroughs and provide new financing tools to build and preserve affordable housing more quickly and efficiently. The Mamdani administration will also work towards expanding affordable homeownership opportunities and launch a new program. Block by Block also lays out the administration’s vision for NYCHA, including the largest City capital investment in NYCHA in recent history.
The Mayor’s housing plan places renewed emphasis on the vital role of NYCHA. It expands resident involvement in decision-making through stronger participation in resident associations. The administration will pursue an expanded role for NYCHA as a public developer, using new financing and development tools to improve campuses and build new housing across the city. The program includes policies to help move New Yorkers out of shelters and into permanent housing.
The Mamdani administration will implement the Construction Justice Act to establish a $40 per hour minimum wage and benefit standard for construction workers on City-financed projects and explore project labor agreements (PLAs) for targeted affordable housing developments. The administration will establish the City’s first Mayor’s Committee on Construction Safety.
“This comprehensive housing plan—the largest announced by any Mayor in history—is an incredible step in our fight for affordability. Our union is proud to have fought for our members to have the best wages and benefits in the country, but it’s not enough. As so many hardworking New Yorkers struggle to stay afloat with rising costs of living, this focus on creating new units and preserving public housing, combined with homeownership opportunities, will be a crucial lifeline for our city’s middle class. We are excited to stand with Mayor Mamdani as he continues to deliver on his promise to make our city a better place to live and work,” said Rich Maroko, President of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council (HTC).
“By incorporating living wage and labor standards in his bold Housing Plan, Mayor Mamdani demonstrates a deep understanding of the multifaceted affordability dilemma that’s plaguing NYC. Affordable housing must be accompanied by good jobs that pay a living wage. Jobs that not only allow you to pay the rent, but to turn on the lights so that you can see the food on your table,” said Mason Tenders District Council Business Manager Dave Bolger.
