New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-New York City) hosted a gathering of U.S. and international city leaders on the Upper East Side Sunday ahead of his meeting with President Trump.

Mamdani and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass welcomed fellow mayors to the Urban 20 Mayors Summit, or U20, where they discussed major challenges facing cities and solutions they say are needed.

Among the issues highlighted were housing costs, immigration and the global climate crisis.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks at the Urban 20 Mayors Summit, or U20, on Sunday. (Image: NBC New York)

Mayors from cities such as Atlanta, Chicago and Miami joined with their peers from cities across Canada, Europe, Mexico and Africa. Organizers said the goal was to share practical steps their communities are taking to address those issues.

Mamdani said the leaders are choosing cooperation at a time when working people are being squeezed by rising rents, slow wage growth and the environmental issues fueling dangerous heat waves and flooding across the world.

Mamdani said conversations with other mayors — such as with the mayor of Helsinki — could help shape approaches to similar challenges in New York City.

“And so in those conversations with the mayor of Helsinki, one thing he also mentioned was that unlike most of our cities, there isn’t much pressure on the housing market in Helsinki as we are seeing in our municipalities, Mamdani said. “And I would love to learn all of the ways in which Helsinki has been able to achieve that.”

Mamdani added that in New York City, “too many people are priced out.. and we fundamentally believe that diginity should not be something that someone has to afford.”

The summit was expected to conclude Sunday with the ratification of a shared agreement between Mamdani and other leaders, outlining a shared agenda for action ahead of Climate Week in the city over the next several days.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.