Mamdani Won on Housing. Will Democrats Follow His Lead?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Sabrina Siddiqui (0:17)

The first thing Willem Holzer checks out when he's visiting a home for sale is the boiler room.

Willem Holzer (0:23)

The water heater is new, but the boiler looks from like the 60s.

Roxanne Alberts (0:28)

It just looks rusty. It could be totally off.

Willem Holzer (0:30)

It looks like an older boiler.

Roxanne Alberts (0:31)

So, I mean, that's just something to just keep an eye on.

Sabrina Siddiqui (0:34)

Holzer and his spouse, Roxanne Alberts, own a condo a few blocks from here in New York City's Bed-Stuy neighborhood. But they'd like more space.

LaVonne Mason (0:43)

We're trying to have kids, so that's why we're looking to expand.

Willem Holzer (0:45)

Otherwise, our current apartment is actually absolutely perfect.

Sabrina Siddiqui (0:48)

The home they're visiting is a four-story townhouse listed at $2.35 million.

And they say they wouldn't be able to afford it without some help from their family. To make it work for their budget, they'd also have to rent part of it out.

Roxanne Alberts (1:02)

I mean, I just think the prices are just like insane.

I mean, just my gut reaction is like even like four years ago when we bought, it was already crazy. But you think you're like making some sort of investment for the future. But it's kind of limiting at the same time.

Sabrina Siddiqui (1:18)

If you drew up a list of words often associated with New York City, expensive would probably be near the top. As a voter, Holzer calls affordability his number one issue.

He says it's a concern for him if they end up putting part of their next property, whether it's this home or another, up for rent.

Roxanne Alberts (1:38)

You have to make sure people can afford to even pay for what you're asking for, or else you're just like sitting on dead property. I mean, if no one can afford to pay for it, then what's the point of owning it?

Sabrina Siddiqui (1:48)

I'm Sabrina Siddiqui and this is What's News Sunday. Over the last few weeks, I've been reporting on what the rising cost of living could mean for who will control Congress next year. In this episode, we talked to some of the New Yorkers navigating higher housing costs and to Zohran Mamdani, the progressive mayor who swept into office with a campaign focused on costs. Ahead of primary elections coming up this Tuesday, Mamdani has endorsed like-minded candidates running to represent corners of the city in both the state capital and in Washington. But those candidates have similarly progressive ideas for how to address the cost of housing. That has sometimes put them and Mamdani at odds with Democratic Party leaders on an issue they all hope will resonate with voters in November. This is The Cost-of-Living Election, Part 4

At a housing resource fair in Brooklyn earlier this month, LaVonne Mason attended a seminar called Landlords and Tenants, Rights and Responsibilities.

She's in the former camp. Mason owns a home in Bushwick that she divided into six units, which she rents out for between $1,300 and $2,400 a month. The building provides her only income, and she says that because of inflation, it's not enough to comfortably pay her bills and address all the needs for repairs that pop up in the rental home.

LaVonne Mason (3:13)

Repairs are what used to be $150 per day. Now they want $300 per day, for example. Anything to do with boilers, electrical, plumbing, it's through the roof. For me, it means balancing what I can and cannot fix, what is urgent, what is not urgent, what I could postpone to fix, because I live from the income.

So I have to take care of my bills, too.

Sabrina Siddiqui (3:34)

Her situation is often invoked by critics of rent freezes and other price controls. They say that if property owners big and small can't raise rents, they can't fund the repairs that would keep the homes attractive.

Mason says that if the city is going to freeze rent, they should also work with her to meet her costs.

LaVonne Mason (3:52)

I have a tenant that's been with the buildings for 20 years. She pays $1,300 in change. That is nothing.

So if they freeze the rent, they need to come up with a way of supporting landlords when it's time to fix major problems. It shouldn't just come out and give me a violation for boiler if you're not going to help me fix that boiler when I can't afford it to do it.