While New York City prepares for a defining mayoral election, housing issues once more occupy the center of the political landscape. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a candidate for the city’s highest office, faces criticism—not just from opponents, but from tenant groups who contend his past decisions have benefited landlords at the expense of struggling renters. Cuomo’s supporters stand by his record, a closer examination of which brings a nuanced picture of a complex legacy of sweeping reforms and hotly debated decisions. The battle illuminates larger discussions regarding affordable housing in the nation’s cities—and shows how leadership decisions have a lingering echo.

Cuomo’s Housing Legacy under the Spotlight

Outside City Hall on a hot summer evening, a group of Democratic Working Families Party-endorsed candidates and tenant groups vocally denounced Cuomo’s housing agenda. Their focal point: Cuomo as the “landlords’ favorite candidate,” a choice they maintain makes him unfit to be the mayor of a city plagued by rising rents and worsening homelessness.

Joanne Grell of the group Freeze the Rent highlighted the concern by saying, “Your landlord’s favorite candidate for mayor is trying to spin a new image for himself, but we remember the damage his policies did.”

Critics cited stark numbers: between Cuomo’s governorship and 2021, rents throughout New York State rose by 33%, while homelessness in New York City increased by 50%. The main fault was laid at Cuomo’s 2011 and 2015 decisions to renew loopholes within rent regulations that took tens of thousands of apartments off the protected and affordable rolls.

City Comptroller Brad Lander was blunt about Cuomo as a “corrupt egomaniac” who put ambition ahead of public service. Seconding the opinion, Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani mentioned Cuomo’s financing for his campaign, citing the $2.3 million worth of donations from the real estate industry received through his super PAC—a fact that begs the question as to where loyalties might actually reside.

Tenant advocates say when elected officials are too close to developers and landlords, they have a hard time advocating for the type of policy that addresses the needs of lower- and middle-class families. Housing experts point out that transparency regarding the financing of campaigns is key to restoring the trust of constituents who themselves feel priced out of the cities they live and work.

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Campaign Technology and issues of authenticity

Fueling the fire, the housing policy proposals of Cuomo were derided by Mamdani as having allegedly being written by ChatGPT, a gesture that highlights the former governor’s disconnect from the housing problems of actual New Yorkers. “When you farm out your platform to a chatbot, that tells you everything about the level of commitment—or the lack thereof—you have to the people you claim to represent,” Mamdani joked.

Criticism strikes a chord about the role of technology within politics—not about the use of technology, necessarily, but about authenticity and humanity. In a city where housing insecurity hits close to home for countless residents, voters are suspicious of a candidate who seems oblivious to the day-to-day realities of the average New Yorker.

A Mixed Record on Housing Protections

Of note, Cuomo’s housing legacy is not without success. He signed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) into law in 2019, enacting stronger tenant protections by broadening rent control rights. Yet even this triumph was fraught. It was reported by The City that by 2021, the number of rent-stabilized units had fallen by 8%, or roughly 66,000 units.

Cuomo later regretted certain provisions of the HSTPA, especially regarding new restrictions on rent hikes following building fixes, as they have been argued to discourage much-required repairs.

The tension between shielding tenants and promoting quality upkeep of the property is not unique to New York. Urban cities everywhere are having trouble finding the middle ground between saving stock of affordable housing and spurring investments into old buildings.

Defending the Legacy

Cuomo’s own aide, Rich Azzopardi, came to the defense of the former governor’s housing record in general. He pointed to the establishment of a Tenant Protection Unit and the plans for significant funding of affordable and supported housing throughout the state. Azzopardi also referenced Cuomo’s overall experience, including his stint as HUD Secretary under President Bill Clinton’s administration, as evidence that not many opponents can offer the level of expertise brought to the table.

Assailing critics with a scorching rebuttal, Azzopardi stated, “New Yorkers understand Cuomo is the experienced candidate, and they won’t be distracted by political theatrics of career politicians who have little to show.”

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Comparison to Broader Housing Struggles

This struggle isn’t New York’s alone. Throughout the country’s major cities—from Chicago to Los Angeles—candidates for office are being held accountable for their housing track records. The struggle tends to revolve around how to support new development (which tends to exacerbate gentrification) and safeguard tenants from exorbitant rents. Cuomo’s dilemma hinges on a larger national one: how to reconcile economic expansion and authentic affordability for working-class citizens.

Furthermore, New York’s condition is even more precarious because of its traditionally crowded rental housing stock—over two-thirds of the city’s population rents there. Housing policy becomes a personal and pressing concern for the vast majority of voters. Politicians have the unusual challenge of responding to a crisis of affordability while keeping New York vibrant and diverse.

Housing: The Defining Challenge of New York’s Future

 As the mayoral campaign heats up, Andrew Cuomo’s troubled housing legacy will be a central issue. Allies boast of his experience and previous initiatives, while his opponents criticize his relationships with powerful real estate interests and accuse him of ignoring the needs of tenants. Aside from personalities and ideology, one thing is certain: the new mayor of New York City will face a decades-old housing crisis. Whether the electorate settles on a veteran face who vows common-sense reform or a new face calling for fundamental transformation, the stakes have seldom been higher. The livability of New York City’s future—and its ability to remain a city for all, not the exclusive province of the affluent—is on the line.

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