As city budget deadline looms, Mamdani faces renewed calls to keep campaign promises

Just two days after Mayor Zohran Mamdani helped orchestrate a historic power grab for the left in primary races across the city, New Yorkers were back on the ground fighting for issues they argue the mayor is not doing enough to support – a fact, that for some, equates to him going back on his word to govern as a democratic socialist.

Advocates and elected officials gathered around City Hall Thursday afternoon to call on the mayor to fulfill promises he’d made as a candidate, some protesting his decision to increase the New York City Police Department’s headcount and others pushing him to implement legislation expanding a rental voucher program known as CityFHEPS. The rallies come as the June 30 deadline for the City Council to approve the multibillion-dollar spending plan looms. While each cause attracted their own mosaic of supporters, both were rooted in the premise of Mamdani not following through on his word – and on pressuring the mayor during this final act of budget negotiations. 

Mamdani ran his mayoral campaign as a proud democratic socialist, trumpeting an array of ambitious economic populist policies. In many ways, he’s followed through: the Rent Guidelines Board is expected to vote in favor of a rent freeze for rent-stabilized homes Thursday night, he and Gov. Kathy Hochul struck a deal to roll out universal childcare and his housing plan is rife with measures to improve the city’s public housing system and plans to build additional affordable homes. But fiscal realities and the pressure of the office have forced him to moderate on some issues – and to pivot on others. 

His handling of policing in particular has garnered ire from the left. In a rare rebuke, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America released a statement earlier this month condemning Mamdani’s plan to increase the NYPD’s headcount by 580 police officers. The mayor hasn’t strayed too far from his campaign promise. His initial pledge was to cap the agency’s budgeted headcount at 35,000, and his plan would grow the ranks of uniformed officers from the current 33,861 to 35,370 for Fiscal Year 2027. Still, the progressive base that helped catapult his rise hasn’t been shy about making their frustrations known.

Organizers and government officials gathered outside City Hall Thursday morning to oppose the mayor’s plan, with advocates calling Mamdani out by name and chanting “keep your promise.” Organizers from progressive organizations like VOCAL-NY and the New York Civil Liberties Union also admonished Mamdani for keeping Jessica Tisch on as police commissioner, charging that the mayor was “dramatically off the path” of his campaign promise to reduce police spending – not to mention his stalled commitments to eliminate the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group and develop a fully-fledged Department of Community Safety.

Elected officials, though, were less directly antagonistic towards the mayor. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and democratic socialist Council Members Shahana Hanif and Tiffany Cabán delivered remarks, with all three rallying against increased police spending more broadly without calling out Mamdani specifically.

Asked for comment on the rally, a spokesperson for the mayor referred City & State to an interview he’d done with News12.  “I appreciate the fact that their concern comes from a desire for the city to be the best that it can be, the safest that it could be,” Mamdani told News12. “And as the mayor, you appreciate and take into consideration everyone's views and opinions on these things. And we talk about them as we get to the end of this budget process.”

As lefty elected officials and advocates condemned police spending, several moderate Democratic council members joined a newly formed coalition of homeowners, renters and public housing residents to criticize Mamdani for not delivering on what they described as key housing issues in his budget proposal – namely NYCHA resources and the expansion of CityFHEPS. The latter is an issue that’s been trumpeted by a host of council members across the political spectrum, moderate Democrats and progressives alike.  

“While the mayor has spoken passionately about housing, the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric,” said Council Member Chris Banks, chair of the public housing committee. “His philosophy doesn’t match his plan.”

Whether or not the Mamdani administration will comply with the expansion of the rental assistance program is one of the biggest lingering questions hanging over the budget process.  It’s been a sticking point in negotiations, with some council members threatening to vote against the spending plan if funding isn’t included. 

All this comes after former Mayor Eric Adams refused to implement the laws during his tenure, citing their high price tag, which spurred the City Council and Legal Aid Society to sue in hopes of forcing the administration to comply. The legal battle has stretched on for years. 

Council members hoped they’d find a more willing ally in Mamdani, who’d pledged as a candidate that he would implement the laws. But facing a multibillion budget deficit, he pivoted after taking office. He appealed the council’s lawsuit in March, picking up the Adams administration’s argument that the legislative body doesn’t have the legal authority to expand the program. 

As of Thursday afternoon, it was unclear whether the Mamdani administration would add funding for the program. Supporters weren’t optimistic. A number of council members, including City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and advocacy groups plan to rally Friday morning to urge the mayor to drop the lawsuit and to significantly increase funding for the program in budget.

Even promises that Mamdani hasn’t officially made – but have gained support from DSA members and other progressive organizations – have landed the mayor in hot water. Back when he was an Assembly member, Mamdani co-sponsored a bill to end the 24-hour workday, and rallied with home care workers in support of a City Council bill as a mayoral candidate. Home care workers and organizers rallied outside City Hall on Thursday morning, calling on Mamdani to “step up” – even though he never made any official promises.

“And we're tired of waiting for unfulfilled promises,” said Samy Feliz, who’s affiliated with the criminal justice reform organization Justice Committee, at the NYPD rally. “Mamdani, you still have time to do the right thing. Still have the time to show us that you have the courage to follow through on your promises.”