Mayor Eric Adams took office nearly four years ago with seemingly inexhaustible energy, a mission to drive down crime and a vow to breathe life back into a city still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
What he lacked, however, was a sweeping policy goal that could reshape the city long after he left Gracie Mansion.
And yet, Adams will leave office having achieved a lasting legacy despite the dysfunction and scandal that swirled around him for the better part of four years. On Tuesday, voters approved a set of far-reaching changes to land use rules that, combined with new zoning regulations passed late last year, could make it much easier to build housing across the city.
The outcome now depends on whether the reforms lead to the construction of even more homes out of reach of most renters, or if they can be harnessed to alleviate a deep shortage of affordable apartments.
Citizens Housing and Planning Council Executive Director Howard Slatkin said it will all depend on Mamdani and his successors’ approaches to investment and development, along with many factors outside their direct control. Those include whether the state offers policy and tax incentives to build more affordable housing, what happens in Washington under the Trump administration, and unpredictable market forces that can make development cheaper or much more expensive.
“Great ambitious accomplishments have been achieved by this administration on housing,” Slatkin said. “But there’s no endzone dances at this stage of the game.”
