Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Medgar Evans College announced a equity and racial announcement on April 6, 2026.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
There are some 5.2 million reasons to be worried about the economic state of New York City.
That number represents the 62% portion of the city’s population who fall short of meeting the city’s “true cost of living” threshold, as outlined in a report commissioned at City Hall that Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled on Monday.
To attain the true cost of living in New York, one of the most expensive cities in America, City Hall says households with children and adults under 65 must earn an annual income of $159,197. According to the “true cost of living” report, the vast majority of New Yorkers do not earn anything close to that number.
Moreover, the average annual gap between New Yorkers’ expenses and their annual salaries, for those below the threshold, is $39,603. What does that mean?
It means that saying New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet is a gross understatement. When the gap between what people earn and what they are spending just to “make it here” is that enormous, it screams of a major economic crisis in our midst.
And the problem is even worse based on race and ethnicity. Hispanic New Yorkers had the highest rate of residents falling short of the threshold at 78%, followed by Black New Yorkers at 66% and Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers at 63%. The rate for white New Yorkers was 44%.
Why can’t 62% of New Yorkers meet the true cost of living in New York? The factors are many: Skyrocketing housing costs, stagnant wages, inflationary impacts on costs for essential goods and services, higher costs for healthcare, taxes, etc.
New York has always been an expensive city. It’s never been an equal city. But the report most certainly demonstrates this is the town without equity — a city where families are denied the opportunity for upward economic mobility just by merely living here.
All the more reason for Mamdani to abandon plans to raise taxes on anyone.
All the more reason for City Hall to do more to create opportunities for business and housing growth without stifling both with more regulations and more taxes.
All the more reason to develop new partnerships beyond the city, with Albany and with private industry, to bring in more investment that will translate to more jobs, more wages and more economic success.
We see the perilous state of our economy today. We see the bond ratings companies degrading the city’s financial outlook. We see companies cutting jobs left and right, and other industries hesitating on bringing new business to New York because of the fears of higher taxes and regulation.
Now more than ever, the mayor and the City Council must act with prudence to ensure the long-term viability of New York. The inequality we face today is a product of past ignorance and developed in a time of economic success; in a time of economic failure, that crisis will only grow, and the “true cost of living” will soar to the breaking point for even more people.
No one can afford to let that happen.