\u201cFree\u201d carries a hefty price tag.<\/p>\n
Socialist Zohran Mamdani\u2019s<\/a> lofty promises of an affordable, progressive Big Apple have electrified throngs of voters \u2014 and terrified others concerned about its costs.<\/p>\n The far-left Democrat\u2019s policy proposals <\/a>will need at least $10 billion and could fundamentally reshape the Big Apple\u2019s economy and government.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how New York City could change under a Mamdani mayoralty:<\/p>\n Higher taxes on the rich and corporations<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s sweeping policy goals are largely hinged on a \u201ctax-the-rich\u201d promise<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Queens assemblyman proposes to raise taxes on millionaires by 2% and hike the corporate tax rate to 11.5%.<\/p>\n Doing both would raise roughly $9 billion, his campaign contends.<\/p>\n NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has campaigned on promises of a more affordable Big Apple. Aristide Economopoulos<\/p>\n Groups of supporters have advocated for Mamdani ahead of Election Day. Michael Nagle<\/p>\n But a mayor can\u2019t magically raise those taxes \u2014 Mamdani would need state lawmakers and a skeptical Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> to take action in Albany.<\/p>\n Hochul, who will be fighting for re-election in 2026, has echoed the bellyaches of New York bigwigs that raising taxes would only drive the wealthy and businesses out of the city.<\/p>\n She has instead promised to find ways to cover the tab without taxing the rich<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mamdani has even admitted he could need to find a Plan B for funding his plans.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this money is funded by the additional taxes or it\u2019s funded by a better-than-expected (tax) assessment, or it\u2019s funded by a pot of money that wasn\u2019t previously spoken about, or savings that have come in, then the most important thing is that it\u2019s funded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Freezing the rent<\/p>\n \u201cFreeze the rent\u201d is a central plank of Mamdani\u2019s campaign, but it\u2019s not so simple.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s proposal actually applies to tenants in rent-stabilized housing, about 2 million New Yorkers.<\/p>\n As mayor, Mamdani pledges to stack the powerful Rent Guidelines Board \u2014 which handles decisions on rent-stabilized apartments \u2014 with hand-picked appointees who\u2019d nix any hikes, much as his favorite living Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s<\/a> board did three times.<\/p>\n The Queens assemblyman says his \u201cfreeze the rent\u201d plan would help struggling tenants. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post<\/p>\n The move would help tenants struggling to make ends meet in the nation\u2019s most expensive rental market, Mamdani maintains. <\/p>\n Critics<\/a> contend this will only increase costs for apartment owners, who could take units off the market <\/a>\u2014 thus indirectly raising rents citywide.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s critics argue that the controversial rent-freezing policy would actually lead to higher costs for both apartment owners and tenants. William Farrington<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s rival Andrew Cuomo<\/a> has argued the socialist can\u2019t actually promise to freeze rents because it\u2019s up to the board, while lame duck Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> is eyeing packing it himself <\/a>with appointees who\u2019ll foil any \u201crent freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n Free buses<\/p>\n New Yorkers in Mamdani\u2019s progressive utopia will ride \u201cfree and fast buses.\u201d<\/p>\n The campaign promise jumps off Mamdani\u2019s main accomplishment during his three terms as a state lawmaker: starting a pilot program for five MTA bus lines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow the latest on the 2025 New York City mayoral election: <\/p>\n The program increased ridership and actually made buses safer, as bus drivers didn\u2019t have to confront fare box scofflaws<\/a>, Mamdani contended in an op-ed for The Nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mamdani proposes to expand it citywide \u2014 with a $700 million price tag \u2014 as a way to ease the burden on working-class New Yorkers who can\u2019t afford the fare to make it around the city.<\/p>\n The proposal was memorably slammed by the Washington Post\u2019s editorial board as a recipe for turning buses into roving homeless shelters.<\/p>\n However, critics have cautioned that the free bus plan would be more expensive than the democratic socialist has advertised. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cVagrants and drug addicts would camp out all day on New York\u2019s buses, especially in the winter,\u201d the scathing op-ed read.<\/p>\n MTA honcho Janno Lieber recently pumped the brakes<\/a> on Mamdani\u2019s promise, arguing it\u2019d be more expensive and harder to pull off than advertised.<\/p>\n Universal childcare<\/p>\n Mamdani plans to shell out $6 billion to provide universal, free childcare to New York City families \u2014 the most expensive of his plans.<\/p>\n The long-held progressive dream has received some support from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signaled she\u2019d work with Mamdani to make it reality \u2014 even as she rejected his proposal to fund it by taxing the rich.<\/p>\n Mamdani plans to spend $6 billion on his universal childcare plan. Michael Nigro<\/p>\n But Hochul wouldn\u2019t offer any clue as to how she\u2019d help pay for their shared goal.<\/p>\n Mamdani also proposed shelling out roughly $20 million to provide free \u201cbaby baskets\u201d containing diapers, wipes, nursing pads, swaddles and other essential newborn goods for the 125,000 babies born every year in the city.<\/p>\n City-owned grocery stores<\/p>\n Five city-owned grocery stores would sprout up across as many boroughs if Mamdani has his way.<\/p>\n Mamdani envisions the stores selling groceries at wholesale prices to alleviate skyrocketing costs for New Yorkers with lean checkbooks.<\/p>\n The controversial politician also plans to open five city-owned grocery stores. William Miller<\/p>\n The idea, however, has been panned by bodega<\/a> and grocery owners \u2014 including billionaire Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis<\/a> \u2014 as a looming \u201cSoviet\u201d-style disaster<\/a> that would drive them out of business.<\/p>\n