r/NYCbike • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will make NYC a more bike-friendly city PSA
Loving Zohran's commitment to micromobility. He says he will pedestrianize large parts of Manhattan if elected. And he's got the citibike receipts to back it up!
Adams promised to build 300 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of his first term. His administration has built 60.
Let's elect a mayor who actually prioritizes biking and pedestrian issues. Just donated! zohranfornyc.com
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u/haitu 3d ago
Hey, you should donate at least 10$! The city will match 8 to 1.
Love the guy. He will not take money from capital interest, like landlords.
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2d ago
Thanks for the reminder! The deadline to qualify for first round of matching funds payments is 11:59pm on Jan 11. Apparently he’s less than 50k from qualifying, so I’m giving again! Matching funds will be crucial campaign cash to go up against Adams / Cuomo
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u/grantrules 2d ago
He will not take money from capital interest, like landlords.
A NYC mayor who isn't bought and paid for? Not in my lifetime!
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u/astonedishape 3d ago
Zohran 2025!
All of his policy positions are on point.
“Mamdani is running on freezing rent and building housing for working families, fast and fare-free buses for riders, and free childcare for all New Yorkers.
In 2023, Mamdani co-introduced a bill that would enact a weight-based vehicle-registration fee to dissuade people from owning heavier vehicles in an effort to make streets safer.
Mamdani introduced a bill to eliminate New York University’s and Columbia University’s tax exempt status and direct those funds towards underfunded public universities.
Mamdani supports an income tax increase on New York State’s wealthiest residents.
Early in 2023, Mamdani introduced a bill called the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act” which aimed to prohibit registered charities from donating to organizations that support Israeli settlers or Israel in the post-October 7 war in Gaza. The bill was condemned by dozens of state legislators, and did not pass. In November 2023, Zohran joined Cynthia Nixon in a five day hunger strike outside of Washington DC in support of an immediate ceasefire and opposition to Biden’s involvement in support of Israel’s offensive in Gaza. In 2024, he held an iftar for a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan”.
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u/local6962 2d ago
all good points, and thats exactly why he wont be mayor.
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2d ago
Is it though? He’s going to face staunch opposition from corporate interests, sure. But Adams won in 2021 with 300k votes in the first round. That’s not a lot of the population. There are 2 million rent stabilized tenants in NYC, for example. Zohran’s concrete proposals to address cost of living could appeal to many many people.
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u/O2C 2d ago
2 million rent stabilized tenants
This doesn't matter much unless those people all vote, and vote as a bloc. One of the main reasons why some groups hold unusually high political power is they're able to deliver those votes like when Twersky's bloc voted 1,400 to 12.
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2d ago
Yeah, that’s true. That’s where a ground ground game with lots of volunteers comes into play and mobilizing those people to vote
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u/Standard_Reply_9903 2d ago
I don’t think he’ll be able to build the coalition necessary to win. I tend to agree with many of his ideas. However, I think the DSA label is a big turn off to many voters. Adams is very vulnerable, but I think we’re more likely to end up with a moderate Dem or a sane/normie Republican (if such a thing exists anymore). I think for most people, public safety is a big issue. While I agree you can’t tackle public safety without targeting the root causes of many of these issues, the truth is most voters are too lazy to understand that. They just want someone to say they’re going to make them safe. They aren’t going to listen to someone’s long term plan for battling these various issues.
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2d ago
I don’t know that most normal working people care about whether he was endorsed by dsa or not. While public safety is a big issue, I think cost of living is #1 and the proposals appeal to a lot of people. I mean 2 million people live in rent stabilized units and he’s running on freezing the rent. Free universal childcare appeals to a lot of new parents. If you can turn out enough of those voters plus the younger activist base, you have a real shot at building a winning coalition.
I also think Adams is vulnerable on crime and public safety. He’s been the tough on crime candidate and his policies haven’t made the subways safer so there’s an opportunity to attack him there
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u/GND52 2d ago
Rent freezes are terrible policy. We need to fix the supply side of the housing crisis.
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2d ago
Source? The idea that stabilization affects supply has been widely debunked
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u/GND52 2d ago edited 2d ago
Are you kidding? The exact opposite is what's been debunked. Price controls limit supply.
Here's one of the premier studies that looked at the effects of rent control in San Francisco in the 90s (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20181289)
"Using a 1994 law change, we exploit quasi-experimental variation in the assignment of rent control in San Francisco to study its impacts on tenants and landlords. Leveraging new data tracking individuals' migration, we find rent control limits renters' mobility by 20 percent and lowers displacement from San Francisco. Landlords treated by rent control reduce rental housing supplies by 15 percent by selling to owner-occupants and redeveloping buildings. Thus, while rent control prevents displacement of incumbent renters in the short run, the lost rental housing supply likely drove up market rents in the long run, ultimately undermining the goals of the law."
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2d ago
I don't think you understand. This is referring to a freeze on EXISTING rent-stabilized units, of which there are approximately 2 million in NYC. Rent-stabilization is not to be confused with control, they are two different types of rent regulation. Hard to have a discussion if you're not aware of these basic facts...
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2d ago
And Zohran's housing policy goes beyond a rent freeze, which is a temporary measure to offset the insane increases Adams implemented. The mayor controls the rent guidelines board which decides on increases to rent-stabilized units. Adams raised the rents on these units by the most of any mayor since Giuliani, a republican. There was also a 25% increase in homelessness under his administration.
Zohran supports building more housing, but we also need policies to address the housing crisis that have an immediate impact. DeBlasio implemented several rent freezes like what Zohran has proposed.
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u/GND52 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean look man, price freezes on existing rent stabilized units still requires rent stabilization! It's entirely valid to call out the underlying system as being at fault.
But yes, let's create incentives for landlords to reduce maintenance or seek ways to remove tenants, since they can't adjust rents to cover rising costs. Brilliant.
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u/baycycler 2d ago
we need both. building houses takes long so we need immediate relief while we wait for extra housing. we also need to fuck off with zoning and heavily tax vacant units
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u/GND52 2d ago
"heavily tax vacant units"
this is one of those ideas that's, like, fine, but also would have basically zero effect. A healthy rental vacancy is around 7%.
NYC has a rental vacancy rate of 1.4%, <1% for units under $2400. Only 3.5% above $2400. (https://www.nyc.gov/assets/hpd/downloads/pdfs/about/2023-nychvs-selected-initial-findings.pdf)
Think about what that means in practice. Units are vacant only in the narrow windows between tenants—usually for reasons like cleaning, repairs, or legal waiting periods. think days, not weeks or months. It reflects a market where demand is far beyond supply that as soon as a unit becomes available, it’s snapped up.
A vacancy tax does nothing in a market like this.
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u/baycycler 2d ago
yes, i know how apt hunting works in nyc
you're failing to account for all the units that are never rented out period. just sits as investments.
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u/GND52 1d ago
Well lucky for us that very same report has those numbers as well.
13,680 units were held vacant.
Out of 3,705,000 total housing units in NYC.
That's 0.36%
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u/baycycler 1d ago edited 1d ago
nah, you know the number im talking about would be 58,810 + 13,680. i would absolutely tax the ever living fuck out of non-primary homes not being rented out. Just how easy do you think it is to develop 72k new housing units??
what i really don't seem to understand is why you can't seem to appreciate that we can both create more housing by building while also freeing up existing housing by consolidating people with multiple homes. even at your original figure of 13k, you would need like 50+ high rises that go up at least 50 stories. sure in the backdrop of NYC, it's 0.36% which seems like a small number but it is a very significant of development that would be needed
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u/GND52 1d ago
Because I think we should have housing abundance, and having pieds-a-terre, having more bedrooms than you strictly "need" so you can have visitors stay with you, an abundance of short term rentals, these are all good things! They increase the vibrancy of our city and make people happy. And I think taxing them out of existence is a bad thing.
Thankfully there's at least one mayoral candidate talking about building at the scale necessary for this kind of abundance, State Senator Zellnor Myrie. He's proposing changes that would allow for 1 million additional housing units to be built.
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 2d ago
These are terrible policy positions. The brain drain alone from defunding Columbia and NYU would be horrendous.
Rent freezes are bad policy and will decrease housing production.
Free bus fares in the context of the transit issues we are facing is insane. Reductions to both funding and safety for a double loss.
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2d ago
Brain drain? Hard to take that seriously. We need to invest in CUNY. Not give taxpayer money to private institutions that are not accountable to the public and do ridiculous things like pay their presidents $3 million a year salaries (Columbia)
We used to have free CUNY and great figures like Jonah Salk (polio vaccine) were products of CUNY schools. Now those schools are deeply underfunded and in disrepair
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 2d ago
Hard to take that seriously
If you think reducing funding to two elite universities in your cities doesn't lead to brain drain, you aren't having a serious discussion. There is no reason you cannot increase funding of CUNY without reducing your academic excellence elsewhere. That's a false and silly choice to make.
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2d ago
Columbia has a $14 billion endowment. Why do they need taxpayer money as a private university
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 2d ago edited 2d ago
Most non-profits in a wide range of categories receive this benefit. I presume the proposal isn't to remove the exemption from all of them. Just to punish two universities.
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u/LeftReflection6620 2d ago
People in r/williamsburg were complaining about expensiveness and quality of life and I got downvoted for telling them to register to vote and recommended looking into Zohran lmao.
Dude is on fire with his campaign lately. Really hoping the momentum keeps up.
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u/baumer6 2d ago
I agree with all of his policy stances you mentioned, including the last one. But if he wants to be mayor, he should focus on actual NYC issues and stay away from foreign policy.
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2d ago
100% agree w staying away from foreign policy. It seems like so far he is doing that, at least in this campaign though. And I hope he continues to
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u/self-assembled 2d ago
A genocide demands all humans of conscience speak out. If this was 1944 I wouldn't want an NYC mayor that allowed organizations in his city to donate to the nazi party. The fact that there are non-profits based in NYC donating to genocide is a serious issue.
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u/thisfunnieguy 3d ago
can you point to that announcement? it's not on his site
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3d ago
It was part of a forum the candidates did a few weeks ago! Let me see if I can find the video
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u/thisfunnieguy 3d ago
im excited to see how this primary goes.
hope we get a lot of talk on transit and housing from everyone.
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u/maverick4002 2d ago
Idk anything about this guy but Adams also said the same. In fact, wasn't he photo'd on Citibike before he ess elected.
How do we know this guy isn't just talking shit. Like all politicians do when they are trying to get elected
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2d ago
I think Adams rode a citibike to his office the second day on the job as a photo op lol. Agreed that most politicians will just say anything. Check out Mamdani, he’s actually been committed to these issues. He’s the real deal. He went on a 15 day hunger strike with the Taxi drivers to win them millions in debt relief.
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u/self-assembled 2d ago
Hate Adams for sure, but a lot of bike lanes have been built in the last few years. He's not really responsible for that, but he didn't get in the way except briefly for a few blocks here and there.
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u/maverick4002 2d ago
The adams administration was actively working against improving bike infrastructure across the city. Don't let the fact that some things got built distract from that fact.
Ingrid Lewis was well known to be his lieutenant in these matters
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2d ago
Source?
-"Adams also promised to install 300 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of his term. His administration has built 69 miles, achieving 23% of that goal"
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/nyregion/adams-nyc-transit-proposals.html-"Adams has repeatedly come in well below the minimum required miles of new protected bus and bike lanes under the city's 2019 Streets Plan law" : Link: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/10/17/surrender-adams-cuts-bus-bike-lanes-from-fifth-ave-plan
"During Mayor Adams’s tenure, 342 pedestrians, 74 people on bikes, 160 seniors, and 44 children have been killed on his streets."
https://transalt.org/press-releases/if-mayor-adams-wants-to-make-new-york-a-better-place-to-raise-a-family-he-needs-to-fix-his-streets-statement-from-transportation-alternatives-after-mayor-adams-state-of-the-city-address1
u/baycycler 1d ago
iono if i'd call 23 miles/year as a lot of bike lanes in a city with 6.3k miles of streets and 1.5k miles of bike lanes. at that rate, all of NYC will have a bike lane in 200 years!!
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u/uppernycghost Anger Issues 3d ago
Hate to be a pissy pooper but the lack of bike lanes is the least of this city's problems right now.
Realistically everyone is going to vote for whoever claims they'll be the hardest on crime. Which is how Adumbs got into his position in the first place.
We've got 10 more months to go and we are not making it through those 10 months without multiple horrifying events that will further collectively push the public's anti-crime stance.
We're either getting Cuomo, Adams again if he can get his shit together, or Sliwa if he decides to run again.
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3d ago
Of course it’s not. The cost of living crisis is in my opinion the most important issue facing NYers. And that has been worsened by the current admin. Yes New Yorkers also care about crime but I would argue cost of living is #1 for most working people in this city. Adams is vulnerable on crime. He’s been the “tough on crime” candidate, he’s put loads more cops in the transit system and it hasn’t made our subways safer.
Re: Zohran, I think his other proposals are excellent as well. Heard him on WNYC yesterday talking about universal childcare, housing and addressing crime on transit.
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u/rostov234 2d ago
I like him but really really important city prioritizes keeping business here, adding new business, trash and safety. I want nyc to be great and better for everyone but i am telling u we r playing a dangerous game if we dont have a pro business mayor. At some point if businesses keep going and less people to tax that will have inverse effect on poor.
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2d ago
Totally agree, but that must be small businesses. Not massive corporate chains who get hand outs of taxpayer money. It’s a goddamn shame that every few blocks of Broadway from the UWS up to washington heights have vacant storefronts and that successful businesses like popular restaurants cannot afford to stay open because the cost of commercial rent is insanely high. That’s what’s pushing out small businesses. As a result we get more and more corporate chains — the chainification of NYC. I’m not against all chains but the city ought to do more to help small businesses and to regulate commercial rent
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u/ZeQueenZ 2d ago
Adams said same thing and look how he turned out. Candidates will say anything to get elected. Who is going to be head of bike lanes like Bloomberg? He never apologized for Critical Mass harassment that led to this.
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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2d ago
How is he antisemitic? So far I have seen no examples of that…
Conflating antisemitism with criticism of the extreme far-right Israeli govt is not only disingenuous, but weakens the fight against actual hate and antisemitism
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u/hollywoodhandshook 2d ago
He's not antisemitic of course, everyone from the UN to Amnesty International to the American Historical Society to Human Rights Watch has loudly and validly shown Israel is committing a genocide.
But of course if you think Palestinians are less than human, as /u/Lostinservice thinks, and deserve concentration camps and famines, then you would think calling that out is antisemitic.
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u/Lostinservice Ride organizer (3/18/12) 2d ago
Oh, fuck off. I don't see Mamdani and the DSA tankies getting their panties in a bunch about the actual genocide happening in Sudan—it's only when Jews defend themselves from terrorists that Mamdani gets woke? But more importantly, you don't get to define antisemitism or Jew hatred and you don't get to diminish the right of existence and self-determination of 10 million people by adding a bunch of adjectives to a description of their current government.
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2d ago
It’s not about whether I want to define it or not. Criticism of Israel and its government is not antisemitism. From what I’ve seen, Zohran’s stance on Israel aligns with every major human rights organization in the world (let me guess, they are all wrong and antisemitic?). I mean, it’s amazing you can say it’s self defense when they have killed over 45,000 Palestinians.
As I expected, you haven’t actually given any examples to back up your claim about Zohran. And pointing to other govts committing massive human rights violations is a pretty bad argument for why Israel should be allowed to get away with it. I mean, the US isn’t funding the Sudan genocide with our tax dollars..
Im concerned with Zohran’s stances on issues that affect New Yorkers in the every day, particularly cost of living issues and transit, not his stance on foreign affairs.
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u/Lostinservice Ride organizer (3/18/12) 2d ago
who the fuck are you to tell Jews what is or isn't antisemitism? When I see Mamdani applying a biased standard to Israel, the only Jewish state in the entirety of the world, and I don't hear him say a single thing about the 49 Muslim led states whose humanitarian records would make Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot blush, I'm going to call it for what it is: antisemitism.
So your Pallywood propaganda informed screed is irrelevant when you say nothing about slavery, LGBT beheadings, and actual genocides happening in MENA countries.
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u/hollywoodhandshook 2d ago
honestly you're a real, real piece of shit, and imagine assuming that we aren't Jews here
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u/One-Pain-9749 2d ago
If you could link to evidence of antisemitism, maybe people will take you seriously.
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u/hollywoodhandshook 2d ago
Ah the "progressive except for exterminating Palestinian children" bruh has chimed in huh
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u/Servonatron 2d ago
He’s my #1.