What does NYC’s Mayor control? Here’s which powers the office holds

The 2025 mayoral election has Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and activist and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa vying to become the chief executive of New York City, one of the biggest and most complicated cities in the world.

It’s a position that oversees a gigantic bureaucracy which impacts the daily lives and livelihoods of some 8.5 million people.

“The mayor of New York City has enormous powers,” said political expert J.C. Polanco, a professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx. “Not only do they supervise a staff of over 300,000 people, a budget of over $120 billion, a GDP of $1.3 trillion — that’s bigger than 10 other countries. We’re in the top 10 in the world. Considering 1 million kids in our public schools, 10 million people at any given time, 30,000 cops, it’s a lot of power.

“As of January, whoever that new mayor is becomes an international superstar,” Polanco added.

New York City mayoral candidates (L) Zohran Mamdani, (C) Andrew Cuomo and (R) Curtis Sliwa appear in these photos.

(L) Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, (C) Andres Kudacki/Getty Images, (R) Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

The candidates have made all kinds of promises that they plan to make good on, if elected. But will the winner be able to deliver?

The following are many of the powers one of these men will wield following the inauguration in January.

NYC mayor’s influence on taxes

The candidate who wins the right to occupy Gracie Mansion will be responsible for preparing, proposing and implementing New York City’s various budgets and financial plans, and manage the city’s relationships with federal, state and local governing bodies.

While the mayor’s budget outlines spending priorities, it cannot include tax increases without approval from the state Legislature in Albany. That means the mayor cannot unilaterally raise taxes. The mayor can, however, make proposals and use his political clout to influence various lawmakers and the governor to get those changes approved.

“We have an incredible system of checks and balances,” Polanco said. “Although in New York City, the mayor is incredibly powerful, there is still a City Council he has to work with, and when we’re talking about taxes, like some of the taxes we’re hearing about in this campaign, that involves the state Senate, the state Assembly, and the governor, so all three have to approve any massive increases in taxes.”

While Mamdani, for example, has suggested raising taxes if he wins to pay for his Democratic socialist programs, he’d likely need a lot of outside help and influence to get the state to pass legislation doing so. The same can be said of Cuomo and Sliwa, though the former governor may have a slight advantage because he is, after all, a former governor, but one that did resign amid a sexual harassment scandal and impeachment investigation.

As for lowering taxes, the mayor must follow the same protocol.

The bottom line is the Legislature’s approval of anything involving taxes is needed for it to appear in the state budget. The prevailing theory usually is when a governor is up for reelection, as Hochul is in 2026, they don’t get behind tax hikes of any kind.

However, Hochul has endorsed Mamdani in the general election and campaigned with him two weekend ago in Queens.  “Tax the rich,” the crowd chanted at that event. 

Albany’s other Democratic leaders, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, have also endorsed Mamdani in the race.

Polanco says an increase in taxes on the wealthy may spark a further exodus from New York, but one must never underestimate the bully pulpit the mayor occupies.

“If that were to happen, the New Yorkers that are most mobile, that can easily leave, will leave,” Polanco said. “We’ve lost close to 2 million New Yorkers already since 2000, and that has political consequences. But if that mayor is very powerful within his party, so powerful that members of the state Legislature have to fall in line with the wishes of this mayor, either because he’s politically popular in their districts and they don’t want to lose their seats, they may want to listen to an increase in taxes.”

Affordable housing and rents

The mayor has sole power to appoint all nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board, which sets adjustments for rent-stabilized apartments, and the question of increases has been a major issue in the race. Mamdani rolled to victory over Cuomo in the Democratic primary in part because he is promising to freeze rent during the entirety of his term, should he win the general election.

But Polanco says it’s not as simple as having the mayor’s hand-picked appointees rubber-stamping what he wants without following the law.

“Legally, each member of the Rent Guidelines Board has to review the law and the economic forecast that landlords are currently experiencing, so they’re not allowed to vote, just … without any studies, just on a whim to freeze the rent. They have to launch studies and analyze the numbers and see whether or not a rent freeze is valid, considering the economic circumstances that impact the city,” Polanco said. 

Cuomo has said he is against an across-the-board rent freeze, arguing landlords must be able to keep up with rising costs of maintaining buildings. However, he has also said he would like to see more spots in rent-stabilized apartments reserved for low-income families. 

Sliwa, meanwhile, has called for minimal rent increases, but also wants to eliminate bureaucratic policies that he says have kept thousands of rent-controlled apartments off the market.  

Though the incoming mayor would not have the power to raise or lower rents in rent-stabilized apartments, having his hand-picked board members in place would, theoretically, put him in a position to potentially propel their decision in one direction or another.

However, it is important to point out that current Mayor Eric Adams, who has often sympathized with the plight of landlords, made it clear he wasn’t happy after the board voted 5-4 in late June to raise rents 4.5% for two-year leases and 3% for one-year leases.

Free buses and city-run grocery stores

Mamdani has gained a lot of traction with voters by promising free buses and city-run grocery stores. Polanco says it will be very hard to do the former because the MTA controls the cost of bus fares.

“He would need the support of those members of the MTA, which means you need the support of the state and those officials that appoint those individuals to the MTA to get free buses,” Polanco said.

Polanco said because congestion pricing is the law of the land and the transit agency has a massive deficit, the odds of New Yorkers getting to enjoy free buses are “slim to none.”

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber also didn’t seem amenable to the idea of making buses free for all riders. 

“I want to make sure that people of limited income get priority in this discussion, that we’re not just giving a ton of money to people who are riding the 104 on the Upper West Side, where I grew up, the bus on Broadway,” Lieber said Thursday.   

As for city-run grocery stores, Polanco says it’s possible it could be tried on a limited, trial-run basis in each borough if the mayor has the support of the City Council.

“The problem will be here is that you have supermarkets, delis and bodegas that are part of the fabric of the community. In order for a city councilmember to vote for this to happen, they would have to look at their deli, bodega and supermarket in their districts and say I know this store will compete with you and it doesn’t need to worry about profits, but I’m going to vote for it anyway,” Polanco said. 

Polanco said the odds of having City Council support for city-run grocery stores is “very little, considering that these city councilmembers have dozens of bodegas in their districts.”

NYC mayor’s influence on laws

When it comes to laws, the process is similar to potentially raising taxes. The mayor cannot create legislation on his own, but does sign into law or veto any legislation passed by the City Council.

It is important to note that any mayoral veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of the council.

For example, Mayor Adams recently vetoed bills on the decriminalization of street vending and a grocery delivery worker minimum wage, but both were overridden by the council.

Adans also vetoed the “How Many Stops Act,” which requires NYPD officers to include in their reports the age, race and gender of everyone they stop. He argued the legislation would cause officers to spend more time doing paperwork than actual policing, but the council overrode that one, as well. 

The last time a notable Adams veto was not overridden happened in July, when the council initially voted to reject an application for a potential casino in the Bronx. 

Agency and judge appointments

The mayor also has the ability to appoint and remove the commissioners of more than three dozen New York City agencies, including well-known ones like the NYPD, FDNY and Transit Authority, but also many that don’t often make the front or back pages of newspapers on a daily basis, like the Department of Small Business Services, the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Department of Finance, and many more.

The mayor’s office also oversees more than 200 boards and commissions, which are vital to how the city operates. Some examples are the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the Housing Development Corporation and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

In addition, the mayor appoints judges for Criminal Court, Family Court and, on an interim basis, Civil Court, and holds significant sway on city contracts. He also can appoint members to various agencies at the state and federal level pertaining to the city’s economic development and infrastructure, including the Economic Development Corporation.

It is also in the mayor’s power to be a liaison with governmental bodies that deal with pensions, public finance, procurement and franchises and concessions.

Cultural responsibilities

Because of his status as the leader of the city, the mayor is granted a spot on the boards of nearly three-dozen nonprofit organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National September 11 Memorial & Museum and the New York Botanical Garden, among others.

He is also an ex officio member of the New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Borough Public Library, plus the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation Board and the Public Design Commission.

What the mayor doesn’t control

As noted above, the mayor does not have the power to levy taxes on his own. Similarly, the mayor cannot institute new laws on his own. They need to be crafted by the City Council, which he then approves or vetoes. And the mayor cannot simply mandate the MTA make bus fares free. The state would have to appoint to the MTA people amenable to that idea to make it happen.