NYC mayor’s race: Five Democrats offer big promises on homelessness and housing at interborough forum

Five Democrats in the 2025 NYC mayor’s race pitched their ideas to help the homeless, build affordable housing and improve the beleaguered New York City Housing Authority before a crowd of 2,250 watching from two different venues on Sunday night.

Metro IAF teamed with Manhattan Together, South Bronx Churches, Queens Power and East Brooklyn Congregations to organize the virtual and in-person forum for Democrats seeking to be New York City’s next mayor. The five candidates — former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, former City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani — addressed a crowd of 2,000 people at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, while another 250 watched via video at Temple Sharaay Tefila, in Manhattan.

Ahead of the June 1 forum, organizers reminded the audience of ranked-choice voting in the June 24 primary, and urged them to get to know all of the candidates so they can rank up to five of their top choices on the ballot. 

Each candidate supported Metro IAF’s agenda to build 500,000 homes over a decade, “fix” the New York City Housing Authority, and address mental illness as a major issue.

“We can build 50,000 homes right now. We can fix NYCHA now,” said Rev. David K. Brawley, pastor at St. Paul Community Baptist Church and co-chair of Metro AIF and Metro AIF NY. “We can address the mental health crisis in New York City now.”

Cuomo focuses on Rikers

Cuomo, who took the stage and spoke first based on random selection, said within 30 days he would “get every homeless person out of every train and subway station and get them the help they need.”

“We did it during COVID,” the former governor said. “We brought every homeless person out of the subway system to get them the help they need.”

Cuomo estimated that 20% of people on Rikers Island, which he said costs $500,000 per inmate per year, are “seriously mentally ill.

“In my first 30 days, I’m going to get the seriously mentally ill out of Rikers Island, get them the mental health assistance they need,” he added.

Cuomo said the New York City Housing Authority, a public-benefit corporation controlled by the New York City Mayor, has “been a problem for decades” and pledged more funds to improve it and build affordable housing.

Speaker Adams eyes NYCHA repairs

Speaker Adams, who told the group “your agenda is my agenda,” called an affordable housing shortage a serious issue.

“We have to have housing of all types to meet everyone’s needs,” she said, noting that as speaker she had helped deliver affordable housing. “I have fought for these housing priorities and secured them.”

“We will invest at least $500 million in NYCHA repairs, while improving on our tracking of outstanding NYCHA repairs,” Adams said. “We want our NYCHA residents to live in dignity.”

Lander on housing crisis

Lander said on “day one” he would declare a state of emergency to confront a “housing crisis,” and supported building 500,00 homes, including thousands on city-owned and NYCHA lots.

The current comptroller said he would use four of 12 golf courses owned by New York City to build 50,000 affordable housing units that New Yorkers would rent or own. He said he has a plan to fix New York City Housing Preservation and Development called “Building Blocks of Change.”

“We don’t have to be a city where several thousand of our mentally ill neighbors sleep on the street,” Lander said. “We can end that together.”

Stringer on building affordable housing

Former Comptroller Scott Stringer said he supports rebuilding HPD, increasing subsidies for housing and using city land to build more housing.

“We’re going to turn those lots into true, affordable housing,” he said of free and city-owned land. He told the audience that as comptroller, he helped finance affordable housing — and insisted that the next mayor take swift action to address the crisis.

Mamdani on affordability

Mamdani, who represents Astoria and Long Island City, also called for more affordable housing as a priority. “What good is being in the greatest city in the world, if you can’t afford your rent, your groceries, your childcare?” Mamdani said. “Believing in affordability is not enough. We must deliver affordability.”Rev. Rashad Raymond Moore, pastor at the First Baptist Church in Crown Heights, said voters “need leadership, land, money, and relentless accountability.”

“We get a lot of promises, but we see very little progress,” Rev. Moore said. “There’s only one person who has the power to unlock this land, and that is the mayor of the city of New York. We’re not coming here to beg. We’re coming to build.”