How broken is New York’s approach to housing and fundamental fairness? Broken enough that an independently wealthy former assemblyman earning a six-figure salary occupies a rent-stabilized apartment meant for low-income families. Worse still, New Yorkers have just elected him mayor.
That simple fact about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tells you more than any dense policy analysis ever could. It exposes a system that is fundamentally flawed by design, not by accident.
Rent stabilization was created to protect working families and lower-income New Yorkers by preventing excessive rent hikes and guarding against sudden evictions. And the goal has always been straightforward and well-intended: to keep housing affordable for those who need it most and allow people with limited means access to neighborhoods they would otherwise be priced out of…