Mamdani, Cuomo spar over affordable housing ahead of New York City mayoral election
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Andrew Cuomo hopes to turn Zohran Mamdani's message of affordability against the frontrunner in the race for New York City mayor.
The former governor questioned why Mamdani lives in a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, despite his $140,000 salary.
Mamdani hit back on Monday, saying Cuomo only cares about politics and that he is "living rent free" in the former governor's head.
Cuomo is trying to portray Mamdani as a hypocrite or worse. But the democratic nominee apparently has some explaining to do.
"What do we know about this policy proposal beyond the fact that it seeks to evict me from my apartment, like so much of Andrew Cuomo's politics, it is characterized by a petty vindictiveness," Mamdani said.
Mamdani won the Democratic nomination with a campaign squarely focused on affordability.
But on Sunday, Cuomo insisted that Mamdani should not be entitled to his stabilized monthly rent of $2,300 while earning $142,000 a year as a state lawmaker.
"I think rent stabilized units when they're vacant should only be rented to people who need affordable housing, not people like Zohran Mamdani, and I'm gonna call it Zohran's law, because it is an abuse of the system," Cuomo said.
But Mamdani insists that Cuomo has it wrong.
"What Andrew Cuomo is proposing, be it the rent control he cited, the rent stabilization, he intends to speak about, is in many ways reflective of the fact that I live rent free in his head," Mamdani said.
Mamdani says he moved into his apartment when he made less than $50,000 and that he always intended to move out. But he opposes needs-testing.
"It is a larger question of how do we ensure that each and every New Yorker can live those same lives of 10, 20, 30, 40 years where they pay their rents and they know what their rent will be next year, what their rent will be two years from now, and that they need not live with the anxiety that their landlord could put forth a rent increases, the likes of which is functionally an eviction from that apartment," Mamdani said.
He says it is all about stabilizing neighborhoods and keeping people in their apartment and less about the rent that people are paying.
As for Cuomo, he is renting an apartment on the east side for $8,000 a month.
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