New York City stands at a critical juncture.

The Mamdani administration inherits a mandate — and a momentous opportunity — to deepen its focus on affordable housing and quality of life. 

These issues are central to the success of the city’s business and residential sectors, and it has been heartening to watch Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani vow to take on these extraordinary challenges.

The housing crisis in New York has become acute, and I hear about it all the time when I speak with top leaders about the city’s future.

Median asking rents in the city recently reached nearly $3,600 per month, or roughly half of the median household income, putting enormous pressure on middle-income residents and pushing many essential workers to the margins.

At the same time, low-income households increasingly spend 70% or more of their income on housing — far higher than the affordability benchmark of 30% — while home ownership remains distant for most. These facts underscore that housing affordability is now tethered to the city’s economic vitality and its ability to attract and retain talent.

We know effective and visionary leadership can work.

Gov. Hochul has already taken bold steps toward combating the affordability barrier. Her flagship New York Housing Compact seeks to unlock 800,000 new homes across the state over the next decade by incentivizing new construction as part of five-year, $25 billion housing plan that aims to create or preserve 100,000 affordable units statewide.

And for his part, Mayor Adams has laid out a strong blueprint for increasing housing construction and affordability through the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Plan,” which is cutting red tape and modernizing regulations in order to build 82,000 new units. 

These efforts resonated in the mayor’s race, as housing and affordability emerged as major campaign issues among voters and the candidates.

I provide counsel to business leaders who are often looking to hire and retain talent. They have to consider not only salary and benefits, but whether a hire can find housing near their workplace, manage a commute, and sustain a life in the city.

When housing becomes prohibitively expensive, workers must live further away or leave the city entirely. And that can lead to higher turnover, increased recruitment costs, and diminished morale and productivity.

Meanwhile, the residential sector — homeowners, renters, and investors — has a stake in preserving neighborhoods that are stable, vibrant, and accessible. Mamdani will treat housing production and affordability as a core of his economic policies.

That will surely mean adding units. But it also means ensuring homes are affordable to working- and middle-income households, including the essential workers who keep the city running.

That can include zoning reforms, such as considering more mixed-use residential in industrial zones, and streamlining approvals.

Another way would be to fund additional affordable housing through increases in property tax revenue that comes from new projects, such as near the proposed IBX light rail line, the Second Ave. subway, and the redevelopment of Penn Station.

And maybe the city could prioritize plans to redevelop Sunnyside Yards into housing or move wastewater treatment plants to Rikers Island when it closes so the sites in the Bronx and Queens could be used for more housing.

It’s been heartening to see the Mamdani administration’s focus on housing supply and affordability during the transition, tapping longtime development advocate and housing executive director under Adams, Leila Bozorg, as deputy mayor for housing and planning.

Alongside officials like Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, Bozorg will have a critical role in executing on Mamdani’s vision of increasing public investment in housing while also unleashing private sector production.

Quality of life in the city matters. I’m a lifelong New Yorker, raised my family here, co-founded Global Strategy Group 30 years ago in Manhattan, and built it into a thriving firm thanks in great part to our ability to attract and retain talent.

When homes are affordable and neighborhoods are accessible, employees are more connected to communities, and more likely to stay. And we know that the residential market benefits from stability.

The message from voters was clear: Housing is foundational to the city’s competitiveness and livability.

Now it is time to deliver and create a city where both businesses and families can thrive. I look forward to seeing Mamdani and our dynamic business community come together and make great progress on this critical mandate.

Silvan is a founding partner and CEO of Global Strategy Group.