Mamdani pledges thousands of affordable homes at Aqueduct and faster NYCHA repairs

Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced a packed accountability assembly at Queens College on Sunday and renewed campaign-era pledges on affordable housing and New York City Housing Authority repairs, Spectrum News NY1 and News 12 reported Monday.

The nonpartisan Metro IAF coalition organized the gathering at Colden Auditorium to check progress on commitments the mayor made a year ago while campaigning. Organizers focused on four priorities: community safety, the mental-health crisis, public housing and affordable housing.

Aqueduct and public housing

Mamdani received a standing ovation as he pledged to work with the coalition to maximize density and build thousands of affordable housing units on city-owned property at the shuttered Aqueduct Race Track site in South Ozone Park, NY1 reported. "What I've always heard from all of you is we also cannot afford to wait for whatever it is we plan to build," he said, according to NY1.

News 12 reported that the city and Resorts World Casino are competing to secure state support for their respective proposals at Aqueduct. "We need more affordable housing everywhere and we will not get there if we don't use the city-owned sites to start the journey," Mamdani said, per News 12.

On NYCHA, Blanca Ramos, a Lower East Side resident, told NY1 she was encouraged by the mayor's plans to expand the Critical Repairs Initiative citywide so urgent maintenance moves faster. "It's something we want to implement hopefully by June 30," Ramos said, adding that NYCHA would use a method similar to the Office of Community Care to speed repairs.

Safety and mental health

Public safety remained a central theme. Speakers raised hate crimes, protecting immigrant New Yorkers after the ICE shooting in Marble Hill, and the need for children to attend school and religious services without armed guards outside, News 12 reported. Mamdani pointed to historically low shooting and murder numbers while saying the work is unfinished if any shooting victim remains.

He committed to meet Metro IAF leaders with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch on safety needs, and pledged to open 10 mental-health crisis centers across the five boroughs beginning next year, according to News 12. Metro IAF leaders said they would keep an open line with City Hall to track follow-through.