The Promise of Affordability and Doing Business in New York City: Zohran Mamdani’s Mayoralty
Introduction
Early this month, we saw a phenomenal win for Mr Zohran Mamdani, making him the mayor-elect for New York City. At only 34, Mr Mamdani stood out both in terms of age and his uniquely charismatic approach to campaigning. In light of his recent victory, this article aims to discuss the policy focus on affordability, how the business landscape has reacted to this campaign and analyses if Mr Mamdani’s policies are feasible.
The Agenda: Affordability
Mr Mamdani’s policy proposals are focused on making New York more affordable being ‘laser-focused on cost-of-living issues’, which is a significant concern of New Yorkers [1]. One of the most prominent policies proposed is freezing the rent for rent-stabilised apartments, which include additional rights for tenants and the charge for rent is limited by law [2]. Upon becoming Mayor, Mr Mamdani aims to freeze the rent and “use any available resource” to provide housing to New Yorkers and to bring down rent prices [3].
He has also proposed to tackle the rise of groceries prices by creating city-owned grocery stores. City owned grocery stores aim to keep prices low because they will “sell at wholesale prices” and join forces with local neighbourhoods for sourcing groceries. Significantly, he aims to tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers (people that earn above USD 1 million annually) with a 2% tax and raise the corporate tax rate to 11.5%, equal to New Jersey’s tax rate [3]. The purpose of the tax rises is seemingly to fund his campaign’s promises which included free childcare and fast buses.
The Impact on Businesses
Among the hurdles Mr Mamdani faced in the campaign were small businesses doubting his expertise and his policies, while larger businesses actively tried to reduce his chances of success by donating to the campaigns of his opponents.
Although primarily focused on affordability, his campaign tends to overlook the impacts of problems with commercial real estate on small businesses. While he aims to cut fines and fees, many small business owners still face very high rents and low protections due to the high chance of evictions for not paying for the raised rent given by landlords [4]. Small business owners are vulnerable compared to big businesses given their lack of resources and less legal protection. Additionally, his proposals to increase the tax rates (i.e. the increase of corporate tax rate to 11.2%) will reduce the money businesses have, which further increases costs and limits the business’ growth. [5]
Additionally, big businesses opposed the campaign, especially for its taxation policies. New York City heavily relies on its financial services sector, by raising taxes, major firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have already re-considered New York as a place for headquarters soon [6]. During the campaign, corporate giants such as former mayor and Bloomberg LP founder Michael Bloomberg donated 5 million USD to Mr Andrew Cuomo’s campaign [4]. Mr Cuomo ran as an independent after losing the Democratic nomination to Mr Mamdani. Given New York’s economic reliance on large corporations, taxation policies and strong socialist sentiment risks driving out corporate giants and losing the economic contributions they make to the city.
Finally, business owners are concerned with regards city-owned grocery stores. Director of the New York Association of Grocery Stores David Schrawtz expressed concern over the government not knowing how to run stores [7]. Mr Mamdani proposed removing the profit motive promotes better wages to employers and lower prices [5]. However, this seems to be wishful thinking. Removing the motive does not incentivise businesses to operate properly [5]. For example, a city-backed grocery store in Kansas City closed in early 2025 after almost 10 years of government funding, the reasoning being crime and homelessness in the neighbourhood [8]. The policy may be seen as unreasonable because factors such as crime drive away customers in fear of their personal safety. Additionally, if businesses do not improve their operations, it would continue to drive away customers and promotes the possibilities of shutdowns, which harms the business landscape.
Are these policies attainable?
Some argue that Zohran’s rent policies are unattainable because a rent increase is managed by the Rent Guidelines Board (an independent panel) and not him [9]. However, Mr Mamdani can deliver this policy because as mayor, he can appoint members of the board who would vote for the rent freeze agenda, like past governors like de Blasio during his administration [10]. It can be argued that the taxation policies will drive away wealthy residents and corporate enterprises that support New York’s economy. However, arguably, high earners will remain in the city for prestige and their families instead of relocating. Additionally, New York has consistently gained more new millionaires in the recent past compared to cities worldwide, reflected in the 45% increase between 2014 to 2024 [9].
Further, Mr Mamdani enjoys support from parts of the business community as well. Bloomberg News reported that ONENYC, an independent expenditure group that is supporting Mamdani, is creating a business advisory committee. Its members include Andrew Milgram, Managing Partner of the investment firm Marblegate Asset Management [11].
For small businesses, the campaign has proposed to resolve the problem of empty office buildings that serve no purpose by remodelling them into mixed-use retail spaces. This benefits small business owners by increasing access to commercial retail spaces and potentially making it less expensive to start business in New York City [12]. These indicate Mr Mamdani’s efforts to promote the welfare and growth of small businesses with the aim of building a better business landscape in New York.
On a final note, Mr Mamdani can seek assistance of New York grocers to make city-owned stores feasible. He can form or join to pool resources together to keep wholesale prices cheap for consumers. For example, military commissaries have network of stores share suppliers, thus maintaining their prices 25-30% lower than retail stores. Additionally, the North Dakota purchasing cooperative ‘Rural Access Distribution’ aims to collectively buy food to gain benefits of prices [13]. The administration must not their backs on businesses. Instead, businesses and the administration can collaborate to increase affordability and promote the development of city-owned businesses.
Conclusion
Mr Mamdani’s campaign policies such as freezing the rent, creating city-owned stores and increasing tax rate may be unfeasible, having received backlash from large corporates and business owners. However, the efforts to bridge gaps from the campaign is significant. As mayor, he would be navigating a tight rope in balancing his vision of a more affordable New York and preserving an environment conducive to doing business.
References
[1] Nada Tawfik, ‘How Mamdani stunned New York - and what Democrats can learn from his win’ (BBC News, 25 June 2025) < https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75r7r07ndno> accessed 18 October 2025
[2] NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit, ‘Rent Stabilization in NYC’ (nyc.gov) < https://www.nyc.gov/site/mayorspeu/programs/rent-stabilization.page> accessed 20 October2025
[3] Zohran Mamdani, ‘New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.’ (Zohran for NYC) < https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform> accessed 18 October2025
[4] Andy Hirschfield, ‘Does Mamdani mean business, New York’s small businesses wonder?’ (Aljazeera, 28 Oct 2025) <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/10/28/does-mamdani-mean-business-new-yorks-small-businesses-wonder> accessed 8 November 2025
[5] Gibraltar Business Valuations, ‘The Potential Impact of Zohran Mamdani’s Election on NYC Businesses’ (Gibraltar Business Valuations, 13 November 2025) <https://www.gibraltarbv.com/blog/2025/november/the-potential-impact-of-zohran-mamdani-s-electio/> accessed 22 November 2025
[6] CEO Today, ‘ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S NYC POLICIES: BUSINESS & ECONOMIC IMPACT’ (CEO Today, 5 November 2025) < https://www.ceotodaymagazine.com/2025/11/zohran-mamdanis-nyc-policies-business-economic-impact/> accessed 8 November 2025
[7] Siddharth Cavale, Waylon Cunningham ‘New York's small businesses want Mamdani's affordability focus, less Trump saber-rattling’ (Reuters, 6 November 2025) <https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-yorks-small-businesses-want-mamdanis-affordability-focus-less-trump-saber-2025-11-06/> accessed 22 November 2025
[8] Carla Javier, ‘NYC may get city-owned grocery stores. Do they work?’ (Market Place, 18 November 2025) <https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/11/18/nycs-mamdani-wants-cityowned-grocery-stores-how-do-they-work> accessed 22 November 2025
[9] Andy Hirschfield, ‘Will Zohran Mamdani help or hurt New York’s economy?’ (Aljazeera, 21 July 2025) < https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/7/21/will-zohran-mamdani-help-or-hurt-new-yorks-economy> accessed 22 October 2025
[10] J.W. Mason, ‘What Can Zohran Accomplish?’ (Dissent, 4 July 2025) < https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/what-can-zohran-accomplish/> accessed 22 October 2025
[11] Greg David, ‘The Business Freakout Over Mamdani Peters Out, Mostly’ (The City, 29 September 2025) < https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/09/29/zohran-mamdani-business-leaders-freakout/> accessed 8 November 2025
[12] Kevin Williams, ‘What Zohran Mamdani’s big win means for Main Street small business owners’ (CNBC, 5 November 2025) < https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/05/zohran-mamdani-new-york-mayor-small-business-economy.html> accessed 8 November 2025
[13] Omar Ocampo, Maya Khadr, ‘How City-Owned Grocery Stores Can Tackle Food Insecurity’ (Inequality.org, 5 August 2025) <https://inequality.org/article/how-city-owned-grocery-stores-can-tackle-food-insecurity/> accessed 22 November 2025
