Opinion: To build a city that works for working people, Zohran’s ideas aren’t radical but required

I ran for comptroller on a simple idea: if we want to make New York City more affordable, we need to do a better job spending our money. If we ensure City Hall invests in programs aimed at making life easier for working people – while auditing agencies to root out waste and what’s not working – we will have a better city. It’s not brain surgery. And while I lost, our vision resonated with 350,000 New Yorkers. Not bad for a punk rock kid from Brooklyn. 

Here's what I know: rich people aren't fleeing New York City, working families are. And if we continue hemorrhaging everyday New Yorkers to other cities where life is easier, our economy will crumble because working people are the backbone, not billionaires.

Our city budget is a moral document and ultimately about choices. For too long, under Mayor Eric Adams, we’ve been stuck in a cycle of bloody battles simply to restore cuts to core services. But when we move past the endless game of triage and actually focus on addressing our city’s undeniable affordability crisis, we can build a budget that puts working families first.

Over the past four years as City Council Finance Chair, under the leadership of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, my colleagues and I have fought tooth and nail to invest over $4 billion in new funding so that everyday New Yorkers didn’t have to pay the price for fiscal brinkmanship. That’s crucial funding for our schools, libraries, cultural institutions, mental health programs, Fair Fares, child care and countless community programs that keep our communities vibrant and strong. This year alone, the City Council delivered nearly $1.7 billion in new investments beyond the mayor’s preliminary budget proposal. And, for the first time in years, we didn’t just patch holes but locked in bedrock funding for essential programs at historic levels, so these annual budget dances can finally be a thing of the past.

We were able to baseline 3-K and Pre-K funding so families can plan their futures with confidence. We invested an additional $300 million in early childhood education, including child care vouchers that will unlock hundreds of millions more in state support. And, to address one of the leading drivers of our city’s stubborn affordability crisis, the City Council made history by creating an initiative to provide free child care for children aged 0-2. This non-means-tested program will help hundreds of working families and represents a giant leap toward making New York City the first American city to provide free universal child care.

The City Council also fought successfully to triple legal service funding for low-income immigrants – nearly an eight-fold increase from what City Hall first proposed. This is especially critical when we’ve got a mayor colluding with ICE and silent in the face of Trump’s wild mass deportation campaign. We expanded Fair Fares to cover more than a million riders and increased the income threshold, so nobody has to choose between a meal and a MetroCard. This budget also takes mental health seriously – with more mobile treatment teams, clubhouses, trauma recovery centers and supportive housing so people get proper care. We also set aside a historic $8.5 billion in reserves to show you can Trump-proof a budget while still doubling down on what matters most. But it wasn't easy. 

Imagine if we had a mayor who truly shared the City Council’s vision for a more affordable New York City. Imagine if we had a mayor who worked with us – the co-equal branch of city government – rather than moving as if it were a monarchy where we didn't exist. Imagine if instead of fighting every year to restore cuts to our parks and libraries, we could get back into the business of dreaming big. But the City Council can’t do it alone. We need a willing partner on the other side of City Hall.

Last month, Zohran Mamdani delivered a political earthquake – campaigning on a crisp, disciplined message centering on affordability and bringing down the high cost of living for working-class New Yorkers. It’s no surprise his vision resonated with so many people feeling stressed and squeezed and not seeing a return on their investment as taxpayers. Indeed, in the richest city in the world, people shouldn’t be struggling so hard to get by.

Though I have my suspicions, I’m not entirely sure why some people feel so threatened by Zohran’s platform for a more affordable city. His calls for a rent freeze and universal child care and his plans to make city buses fast and free aren’t radical ideas. Tax breaks for billionaires, cruel cuts to our social safety net driven by false austerity and trying to buy elections? That’s radical. Big, bold proposals aimed at making life tangibly better for working people? That’s not radical. Rather, it should be the fundamental focus of our government.

I’ve now negotiated four balanced, on-time, colossal city budgets and I can tell you this: Zohran’s ideas aren’t crazy, they’re necessary. His plans aren’t radical but required. Because New York City will never survive as a playground for the rich. We must ensure our city remains a palace for working people and it all comes down to how we spend our money. We need a mayor who understands that all the time and not just in an election year when he's fighting for his political survival.

As barbarous Trump Republicans strip hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers of their health insurance and food assistance in order to fund tax breaks for the rich, New York City needs to stand up bold and brave. The world is counting on us to turn the page.