Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is backing away from a central campaign pledge to dramatically expand a costly rental voucher program, underscoring the collision between progressive promises and fiscal reality in the nations largest city.
According to The Post Millennial, Mamdani has decided not to support the growth of CityFHEPS, a rental assistance initiative whose expansion would push its price tag beyond $1 billion at a time when the city faces a projected $7 billion deficit over two years. The expansion plan, championed by the city council and upheld in court, had been touted by the mayors left-wing allies as a key tool to combat homelessness and advance their broader socialist agenda.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani vowed to enlarge the voucher program and even pledged on his website that Zohran will drop lawsuits against CityFHEPs and ensure expansion proceeds as scheduled and per city law." Yet at a Wednesday news conference, he conceded that the expansion is now too costly, a striking admission from a self-described socialist who ran on promises of expansive government spending.
His administration is currently in talks with activists to settle a lawsuit that sought to force the CityFHEPS expansion, a move that effectively undercuts his earlier commitment. The negotiations risk alienating his base within the Democratic Socialists of America, the far-left organization to which he belongs and which helped propel him into office.
Mamdani spokesman Joe Calvello insisted that City Hall is aiming to prevent homelessness while delivering a budget that is responsible and sustainable." But left-wing city councilwoman Tiffany Caban blasted the reversal, arguing, We passed the bills at the size and scale that they were needed to address the crisis that were facing, and that is going to save us money in the long term, adding, Yes, its expensive. Its also going to make our city safer and healthier.
CityFHEPS operates much like the federal Section 8 program, requiring tenants to pay 30 percent of their rent while the city covers the remainder, and roughly 65,000 households currently rely on the vouchers. Even as he resists expanding the program, Mamdani is also under fire for refusing to clear homeless encampments from the streets during a recent cold snap that claimed nearly two dozen lives, raising deeper questions about whether progressive governance in New York can deliver both compassion and competence without bankrupting taxpayers.
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