Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with clergy and community leaders at Queens College on Sunday for an accountability assembly focused on promises he made during his mayoral campaign.
The gathering, organized by the nonpartisan coalition Metro IAF, was intended to assess the mayor’s progress on commitments made a year ago, when he met with the group while running for office.
Mamdani received a standing ovation as he pledged to work with the coalition to maximize density and build thousands of affordable housing units on city-owned property at the shuttered Aqueduct Race Track site in South Ozone Park.
“What I’ve always heard from all of you is we also cannot afford to wait for whatever it is we plan to build,” Mamdani said.
Some attendees said they hoped the mayor would follow through on his commitment to bring more affordable housing to the site.
“People are leaving the city because they can’t afford to live here, so we need more affordable housing. And the more affordable housing you get, that brings the prices down!” said Joseph Smith, an East New York resident.
Organizers identified four main priorities for the assembly: community safety, the mental health crisis, public housing and affordable housing.
Blanca Ramos, a New York City Housing Authority resident from the Lower East Side, said she was encouraged by Mamdani’s plans to expand NYCHA’s Critical Repairs Initiative citywide to address urgent maintenance issues more quickly.
“It’s something we want to implement hopefully by June 30,” Ramos said. She said NYCHA would use the same method as the Office of Community Care to improve the repair process and help residents get issues resolved faster.
Metro IAF leaders said they look forward to maintaining an open line of communication with the mayor to ensure he follows through on the commitments made at Sunday’s gathering.