WASHINGTON (TNND) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a new housing plan this week, which is already receiving backlash across the nation. The initiative is aimed at expanding affordable housing, overhauling public systems and enforcing strict tenant protections.
We have spoken about this crisis long enough. It is now time to do something about it. Our housing plan meets this housing crisis with the scale and urgency it demands,” Mamdani said this week.
Included in Mamdani’s new housing plan isn’t just affordable housing development and billions in capital funding to the New York City Housing Authority.
But also tenant protections and aggressive code enforcement. An aspect is already facing some heat.
When necessary, we will take aggressive legal action to remove negligent owners and property managers and for buildings that have suffered chronic neglect, we will work to transfer ownership to responsible stewards,” said Mamdani.
Critics, including some lawmakers, say the proposal is taking Democratic socialism to a new level. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, wrote on social media, “So this is land confiscation… It’s communist, un-American, and fascistic, really.” Meanwhile, others are comparing the plan to Karl Marx’s ideology, since it seeks to transition housing from a private commodity into a public good.
Stalin would be so proud. Karl Marx would be so proud. These people would be so proud,” said businessman and podcaster Patrick Bet-David on his podcast.
New York City isn’t alone. In Seattle, the city is currently testing physical barriers to boost neighborhood security following an influx of crime.
The efforts come amid a pause on the city’s expansion of a police surveillance camera network by progressive Mayor Katie Wilson. She promised during her campaign to dismantle new surveillance technologies, despite acknowledging that CCTV has an important role to play.
We also have to be very careful to make sure that our data, storage security assuring practices, don’t make that system vulnerable to misuse and abuse. Whether that’s by federal immigration enforcement or by other bad actors,” Wilson told our station KOMO in early May.
Plus, in Los Angeles, voters have a chance on Tuesday to move in a different direction. Spencer Pratt’s more common-sense approach has reportedly helped him raise $2.7 million in the Los Angeles mayoral race, as he campaigns on public safety and fixing broken infrastructure.
I don’t do national politics. I don’t do parties. I just say, look, they’re stealing all of our tax money to give it to drug addicts, to have needles and tourniquets, and they’re actually even selling the drugs to these addicts to let these people die on our sidewalks,” Pratt told Fox News Thursday.
Recent polling shows incumbent Mayor Karen Bass with a slight lead over the field in the race for LA Mayor. But the margin is closing. Voters will cast their ballots on Tuesday, June 2nd.