New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on two of his core campaign pledges: freezing rents for regulated apartments and preserving the city's "sanctuary" immigration policies.
On Dec. 4, the self-described democratic socialist hosted a "Hot Chocolate, Frozen Rent" event in a Manhattan neighborhood home to thousands of rent-controlled tenants. After greeting residents and handing out hot chocolate, Mamdani reiterated his vow to freeze rents for roughly 2 million New Yorkers living in rent-controlled apartments, where rates are set by the government rather than the market.
As mayor, Mamdani will have sole authority to appoint the nine members of the powerful Rent Guidelines Board, which determines rent adjustments each year for rent-controlled units. Several members' terms are due to expire, and having his hand-picked board members in place would, in theory, put Mamdani in a better position to advance his agenda.
When asked whether he had secured assurances that incumbent Mayor Eric Adams would refrain from making last-minute appointments to the rental board before leaving office, Mamdani said the issue did not come up when he spoke with Adams earlier this week.
"We did not have that conversation," he told reporters. "But I continue to be confident in the promise that I made to freeze the rent for two million New Yorkers."
The mayor-elect also addressed the city's response to recent protests over intensified federal immigration enforcement, as well as allegations that the New York Police Department (NYPD) has not fully complied with sanctuary-city policies limiting cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mamdani said he would instruct police leadership to fully adhere to existing "sanctuary" rules and "ensure that we never again open the door on the idea of the NYPD doing civil immigration enforcement."
"I think the NYPD's job is to keep order, but it's not to assist immigration agents in the work that they are doing," he said, referring to recent confrontations between police officers and anti-ICE protesters.
Mamdani also confirmed that he plans to maintain a police force of 35,000 officers, the staffing level reflected in the current city budget. Doing so would require hiring roughly 1,000 more officers to address current shortages.
The mayor-elect further pledged to discontinue the sweeps of homeless encampments across the city, a signature initiative of the Adams administration.
"If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you're doing to be a success," Mamdani said of the Adams policy, which has faced scrutiny for failing to move displaced individuals into permanent housing.
"We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting New Yorkers to housing—whether it's supportive housing, whether it's rental housing, whatever kind of housing it may be.
"Because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it's more often a reflection of a political choice being made."
Lander, who ran unsuccessfully against Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in this year's Democratic mayoral primary, called it a "policy failure."
Mamdani did not provide detailed plans for how his administration would secure housing for homeless New Yorkers. Lander has recommended ending encampment sweeps, expanding single-room options in safe-haven shelters, and connecting unsheltered individuals directly to supportive housing without requiring them to first enter the shelter system.