Breaking down Zohran Mamdani’s proposals and how much they will cost

The front-runner in the New York mayoral race has big plans ahead of him.

Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric rise as a Democratic candidate isn’t just fueled by his social media prowess. Also led by his plans to provide universal child care, make buses free, freeze rent on rent-stabilized housing, build more affordable housing, and create a pilot program experimenting with city-run grocery stores.

His main plans would be financed by a proposed 11.5 percent increase in the state’s corporate tax, which is expected to generate $5 billion in new annual revenue, as well as $4 billion in revenue from a proposed 2 percent income tax increase for New York residents who earn more than $1 million a year. Both projects would require approval from the state Legislature.

Mamdani also proposed increasing the efficiency of municipal contracts and hiring more auditors to enforce the tax code, which his campaign estimates would generate a billion in additional revenue.

Affordability has become a national priority in recent years due to pandemic-era inflation. Two new polls conducted in October by Lake Research Partners, a progressive polling firm, indicate that measures to increase affordability, such as raising the minimum wage, are popular in competitive districts and large cities.

Here’s a look at Mamdani’s main plans for New York and how much they will cost, as he faces independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa on Election Day on November 4.

Universal child care

Expanding free childcare to babies and toddlers under three is Mamdani’s most ambitious and expensive plan.

New York already offers free preschool to many toddlers over the age of three, but for parents of even younger children, accessing child care is a struggle. According to the New York Comptroller’s Office, the annual average childcare rates for a child in New York in 2023, the amount was approximately $12,000 for in-home care, $17,476 for toddler center care, and $20,459 for infant center care. A 2024 report from public policy think tank 5BORO Institute found that more than 80% of families cannot afford daycare for their children.

The Mamdani campaign estimates that providing child care to all New York families could cost $6 billion a year. The plan would be financed by proposed tax increases on corporations and wealthier residents, and the campaign said it would also raise revenue from the increased workforce. According to a January report According to New York’s comptroller, expanding free child care would bring 14,000 mothers into the workforce and generate $900 million in labor income.

Fast and free buses

New York has one of the highest densities of public transit riders in the country, but the city’s buses only average speeds of eight miles per hour, and Mamdani wants to change that.

Mamdani proposed that buses be completely free for more than a million passengers every day, who are mostly commuters for business purposes.

It also plans to create more bus lines limited to other through traffic to speed up transit.

The city currently offers a 50% discount on public transportation fares to low-income residents, but fare evasion has remained around 40% each quarter since 2024. Mamdani’s campaign estimates that free buses would cost less than $800 million each year.

This estimate does not take into account Mamdani’s plan to build more bus lanes.

More rent-stabilized housing – at better rates

Last summer, a city lottery opened for the first time in 15 years to allow New York residents to get help paying their rent, and more than 630,000 people applied to get on the waiting list. Applications were only open for a week, but the need for affordable housing was on full display.

Mamdani plans to solve the housing problem by tripling the production of state-subsidized and rent-stabilized housing, to 200,000 new homes over the next 10 years. The plan would benefit households earning less than $70,000 per year and it cost the city $100 billion over the next decade.

Separate from the construction project, Mamdani plans to freeze rents on one million rent-stabilized housing units across the city, which could be accomplished with relative ease and would result in no direct cost to the city budget. This rent freeze would only affect rent-stabilized housing, which constitutes a a little less than half of the city’s rental stockand would not apply to market rate units.

If elected, Mamdani, as mayor, could appoint members of the Rent Guidelines Board who align with his affordability goals.

The project could anger building owners who would have to bear more maintenance costs and property taxes.

City-run grocery stores

Mamdani also suggested a pilot program of five municipal supermarkets, one in each borough, to reduce the cost of groceries. The program would require city council approval and those grocery stores would sell food at wholesale prices.

According to the New York State Comptroller’s Office, the cost of food at home increased by 65.8% between 2013 and 2023 in New York, which far exceeds the rate of inflation.

Including the cost of rent, utilities, warehouse space, property taxes and the initial cost of storing merchandise, the Mamdani campaign estimates the five stores would cost $60 million a year.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is also putting forward a similar idea. According to a feasibility study completed in 2024, building three stores would initially cost the city $26.7 million.