Mamdani’s Transition Team, And What Else Happened This Week In Housing

Zohran Mamdani talked housing policy in the White House, and appointed a transition committee that runs the gamut of housing philosophies.

It might be the first time the word “ULURP” was uttered in the Oval Office.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani went to Washington last week to meet with President Donald Trump. During a surprisingly warm encounter, Mamdani said that he and the president discussed New York’s land use review process (the Uniform Land Use Review Process, or ULURP).

“We had a meeting today that actually surprised me,” said President Trump in a joint address with Mamdani from the Resolute Desk. “He wants to see housing being built. He wants to see rents coming down. All things that I agree with.”

“We may disagree on how we get there,” he added.

The idea of building more housing in New York City as a way to address the rising cost of shelter has captured many of New York’s elected leaders, Mamdani included. It’s part of the reason he ultimately supported ballot measures earlier this month that changed the ULURP process to make it easier to build. 

The mayor-elect told the New York Times in June that his stance on “the role of the private market in housing construction,” has changed over the years. 

“I clearly recognize now that there is a very important role to be played, and one that city government must facilitate through the increasing of density around mass transit hubs, the ending of the requirement to build parking lots, as well as the need to upzone neighborhoods that have historically not contributed to affordable housing production—namely, wealthier neighborhoods,” Mamdani told the paper.

On Monday, he appointed a diverse coalition of officials to assist with developing a housing policy as he transitions into Gracie Mansion. It included YIMBY voices like Open New York’s President Annemarie Gray, New York State Tenant Bloc leader Cea Weaver, and real estate interests like Real Estate Board of New York President Jed Walentas.

“I joined this because Zohran is committed to the all-of-the-above approach to the housing crisis,” said Gray in a press conference Monday. “One that protects current tenants while also building the homes future families need.”

The group reflects Mamdani’s sweeping and ambitious housing plans. He’s called for unlocking private market development with zoning reform, having the city finance 200,000 affordable units, and cracking down on bad landlords.

Weaver, in an interview with City Limits earlier this month, expressed her excitement about an election that invigorated public servants clamoring to work with the new mayor—his “resume portal” has seen more than 70,000 applications—and turned out the most voters in a mayoral election since 1969.

“My hope is that this fresh energy of civic engagement, participation, and volunteerism that led to the victory in this election will spin over into the collective project of governing the city,” said Weaver.

Here’s what else happened in housing this week—

ICYMI, from City Limits:

• Take a tour of “The Hole,” a neighborhood on the edge of Brooklyn and Queens that’s being eyed for major redevelopment.
• New York State is still waiting on federal funds to open applications for HEAP, which helps low-income households pay their winter hearing bills. In the meantime, see if you qualify for another state program that offers utility discounts.
• “An estimated 158,214 households are eligible for SCRIE or DRIE—but only 67,132 are currently enrolled. That means nearly 57.6 percent of tenants who could be protected may still face avoidable rent hikes in the months ahead.”

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

• Attorney General Letitia James is suing over the Trump administration’s new rules for a federal homelessness program called Continuum of Care, changes that local officials say would jeopardize housing for thousands of New Yorkers, the New York Times reports.
• AG James is also asking NYCHA delay its plan to demolish and rebuild the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses until the start of the new year, as some residents who need to relocate to make way for the work don’t want to move, Gothamist reports.
• A City Council bill wants to bring back SROs, according to 6sqft.
• Con Edison is canceling its plans to add e-battery charging stations at NYCHA developments, Streetsblog reports.
• The 70 NYCHA employees charged last year in a wide-ranging bribery case have now all been convicted, ABC News reports.