Rebuilding New York City with NYC Mayoral Candidate Zellnor Myrie

The following conversation took place on Week Two of Radio Abundance, Skyscrapers on the Hudson with New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie & Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, which premiered on April 14th, 2025. Listen here!

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

Zellnor, we're obviously talking today because you're running for the mayor of New York City. You have a plan for a pretty mass upzoning, which is exciting for obviously all of us in the YIMBYi movement and the Abundance movement.

It's worth calling out that a big part of the plan is also building a lot of public housing, which is obviously appealing to any of us as Democrats and on the Left for tackling that urgent issue in the immediate term as well as the long term.

But there's a particular part of the policy that I want to ask about and hear about that I think is really innovative and exciting, which is that you are proposing, if I understand right, for the city to build public developments that are mixed-income and mixed-use. Which is to say: in the same building, you've got subsidized units to help people out and deliver rent relief to vulnerable folks right away, and you've got market rate units, which will alleviate the rental crisis for everybody and help raise revenue and subsidize those units, and you want to build it on schools and libraries. So, you’re not just taking advantage of public land, but also creating public amenities in the same building. Suddenly, instead of a 15 Minute City, you've got a 1 Minute Building where your elevator connects you to your school and your community.

This idea, to me, seems genuinely new and incredibly exciting, both for tackling the crisis, but also for unlocking some of the opportunities within it. So, I just wonder if you can tell us a little bit about the details of how that would work.

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

You know, this to me is one of the components of the plan that is common sense.

When we think about our cities and where people want to live and why they – the policy choices of “I'm going to stay here” or “I'm going to go there” – it's because not just an affordable unit, but because I have easy access to schools and libraries and cultural institutions and grocery stores and other amenities. And, to the extent feasible, the public should be investing in that type of development.

That is what we are proposing as one part of our Rebuild NYC plan. The city has taken some steps in some neighborhoods to get this done. We just saw in Manhattan affordable housing built on top of a library, which is incredible. This is, I think, the highest use of our public land: for us to have really strong institutions grounding it out, and then having mixed income, where individuals of all income brackets can afford to be in that space.

Think about our New York City Housing Authority and our public housing stock, where we have hundreds of thousands of residents that live, but their capital needs for this housing stock is close to $70 billion. This is investment from the federal government over decades – money that we're not gonna get from this ‘special’ administration, certainly, but that we also haven't gotten from previous administrations.

So, if we're talking about generating revenue, we have to talk about mixed-income. That is a necessary prerequisite for us to do that in this space. We have a lot of land where we can do so, and we can do it without displacing the residents!

We can have them have deep agency in this process – to be partnered in how this is being built, but then also to be the beneficiary of those amenities. And we have opportunities to do that all throughout the city. I'm really excited for this part of our plan.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

Why do you think this is such a unique and novel idea? In the sense that, people in the YIMBY movement understand what building more market rate rental units does for everybody, but when I talk to folks on the Left, we agree on the need to build public housing, but then they – you know, I hear a lot about ‘greedy developers,’ and I always think, “man, if you can make that money from this, shouldn't the government get into that game? It could use some money for helping people and for building subsidized units!”

So I'm curious, do you really stand alone on this? And what are the possibilities and potential for if the government is able to generate revenue by building housing?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

Look, I think that there are legitimate fears from people who have seen the government fail in this regard in the past.

I used to represent Brownsville in my State Senate district. I represented 23 public housing developments where I took constituent case after constituent case of NYCHA failing to meet their needs: dilapidated apartments, unhealthy conditions inside the hallways and the elevators.

I've walked those hallways. I've seen those broken doors. I've seen the broken rooms.

So, if you have been living in these conditions – or, you know, communities that live in these conditions – what faith do you have in government to get the job done and to actually solve the problem?

So I don't disparage – nor am I upset with – people who don't have faith that this isn't just going to be a scheme for others to make money.

It is incumbent on us – leadership – to prove to them that we can do this and do it in a different way: in a way that actually generates income and revenue for an authority that needs that, but also in a way that does not displace tenants, but gives them the opportunity to do it.

I'm very proud of my record on tenant protections and standing up for people. I've been with my mom in housing court, on my own two feet, trying to prevent her from being evicted. And I was a leader in the State Legislature on the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act – some of the strongest tenant protections we've seen in New York in half a century. So I come at this from a place of credibility, but one that really wants to get at solving the problem.

All of the above. That's the answer! And if we’re not willing to do all of the above, I think that is a wholly unserious approach.

Nia JohnsonYIMBY Democrats for America

I 100% agree because I think there are different types of housing consumers, and everyone needs to be served at the same time. And if that doesn't happen, that's where we get the problems that we have today.

But I think – to follow up – I think housing often goes hand in hand with transit, and I want to know: how does transit fit into your overall plan for one million homes in New York?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

We have the benefit of having one of the most robust public transit systems – not just in the country, but in the world.

And I have been a consumer and customer of our MTA for my entire life here in the city. I don't drive; that's how I get around. I take the buses and I take the trains, just like most New Yorkers. We have opportunities near our transit system to do more development.

You know, this is a phrase that in YIMBY spaces I think is pretty common. Transit-oriented development is something that I've been supportive of in the State Legislature as well because we need a regional approach to abating the Affordability Crisis. We have places in this city and around the city and our neighboring counties that could be doing more on development and doing so close to transit, which will help relieve the pressure.

But even in the city – where we have neighborhoods that have really good access to public transit – there's been resistance to development building. That has been the case even in my own district, where I've had to stand up and say, “no, this, this good for everybody! This is good for the community!”

Everyone should be able to benefit from being close to transit and having good schools and having access to parks. And so part of my plan is to ensure that everyone is sharing the solution to our Affordability Crisis, and that includes doing a lot more that is closer to our public transit system.

Nia JohnsonYIMBY Democrats for America

Yeah! And how do you address – like, I know that we have an amazing public transit system, the best in the country. But even then, we still have gaps in our coverage.

Have you thought about how to address those coverage gaps, making two fare zones into one fare zones?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

We have the unfortunate distinction of having the slowest buses in the country. To me, that is an embarrassment! As a New Yorker, I hate to even cede that fact that we have the slowest buses in the country!

So, one of the things that we have to do is, to the extent that the city has jurisdiction over the streetscape (because the MTA is controlled by the state, but the city has some jurisdiction here), we need to be making our buses faster. And there's some things that we can do – whether that is adjusting how our traffic lights turn to ensure that they are prioritizing our buses to get them through, or whether it's dedicated bus lanes that are actually enforced so that people can make their way through, or whether it's rapid transit where we have seen further extensions of train lines that have stopped, but where the bus rapid transit continues to go and serves as a good substitute for what a subway would be. I'd like to see that expanded.

In fact: New York City right now, it's currently not following the law! We passed a law a couple of years ago that would have an expansive bus system where we would be adding many, many miles to our bus transit network every year. The current mayor said that this was something that he believed in. He has not followed the law in that respect. I want to change that to ensure that, in these two fare zones in these places where public transit isn't as easily accessible, a cost effective way to do this is to increase our bus service.

As you may know, it is incredibly expensive to build new subways and to extend our lines. And so, before we get the capital investment to make that happen, I think we have a cost effective way to do that with our bus system.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

It sounds like you are very focused on earning the trust to be able both to allow citizens to build housing and the government to build housing.

I'm curious both how you plan to earn that trust, and then what's built into the plan in order to live up to it?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

Often people see our plan and they say, “well, this is too big. You can never get it done in a city like this. You have too many opposing forces. Are you prepared to be hated by entire neighborhoods and communities?”

To me, this is a mentality that is born out of a failure of leadership. We used to do big things in New York City! We built the Empire State Building in 13 months! This is New York City – come on, now! We can do big things here!

And if you don't think that we can do big things, then you can stay in that corner and be a naysayer. I refuse to accept that, and I believe that if we are going to be a city where people can raise their family – where you can start your first job, where you can get your first apartment, or where, if you were born and raised here, you can stay and see your future here – it’s going to require for us to do some tough work.

That is why I have centered housing in my campaign. So that, when we win, we will have a political mandate to utilize every tool at our disposal to get this done. That means I'm going to have to continue to sell what our vision is even after getting into City Hall. A part of why we saw such a struggle to try to get the City of Yes proposal over the finish line was that the Adams administration was… otherwise occupied.

That made it really hard to sell that vision. That is not what we're going to be doing now. We're gonna be focused on this from Day One. We're going to have a War-Room-like approach. Interagency meetings at the top of every week. A constant transparency where people see how many units we’ve preserved and created. And I'm going to be using that ‘bully pulpit’ to say that we’ve got to continue to build. We’ve got to continue to preserve. And we also have to protect our tenants. I have proposed an expansion of our Right to Council Program. That’s a really good initiative that gives people counsel if they're facing eviction, but it has never been fully funded.

I want to fully fund that to ensure that everyone is getting legal counsel in those proceedings. And I want to extend it to our homeowners who are facing deep debt and who are facing foreclosure. There is still work to be done on the preservation side, but we’ve got to do a lot more on the creation side, and that is what Rebuild NYC is about.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

Yeah! So, Zellnor, this is a very exciting plan, right? It speaks to both my entrepreneurial brain and my Bleeding Heart Liberal brain.

Brass tax here: I think the latest polls have you at about 1%. So, how do you win?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

I'm going to leave it to the professionals to do the prognostication on what the polls mean. If you look at previous polling at this cycle in the past couple of mayoral elections, the individual that is at the top usually is not the one that prevails. So I'm really focused on putting our vision out to as many New Yorkers as possible.

It's very early in this race. For those of us who consume politics we have been in this – in the mix, in the firmament – for many months. But for most New York voters, they're just now starting to turn their attention to this race and we, I think, have built a foundation to talk to folks about our vision. You know, we've raised close to $3.7 million. We've gotten contributions from every single city council district and every community district in the city.

I've been making my way out to every borough, talking to voters and getting live interactions, and I'm really excited because now that people are turning their attention, they're going to see what our vision is: That we want to build more housing. That we want After School for all who want it. An all-of-the-above approach to public safety. That's what New Yorkers want in this moment!

Let me just say, as an added commentary, that people are expecting the Democratic Party to deliver for them in this moment. Not just to pay them lip service, but to actually provide solutions to their everyday problems to help bring down the cost of living practical ways to get this done.

And that is what my vision for this city is.

Nia JohnsonYIMBY Democrats for America

On that note, there’s this whole issue of like cost of living and the cost of creation, and then there's another facet of it on the housing side around permitting and government red tape.

What's your plan for streamlining the processes of permit applications and licensure?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

This is an excellent question, and it does get to the execution of the vision. I'd start with: we’ve got to do a lot more recruiting and retention for our agencies that are responsible for this execution. You think about our Department of City Planning, and you think about our Housing Preservation Agency. They need more personnel! There are applications right now that are sitting on desks simply because they cannot be processed! And that to me is a shame and a failure of government. So we’ve got to do better on that front.

I want to be our city's biggest cheerleader. We have an amazing workforce: people that come to work for this city every day want to deliver for everyday New Yorkers. But they need help! And I want to get them the help that they need.

There’s red tape that prevents smaller developers from building. And if you want to build from six stories below, the city makes it incredibly difficult for you to do that, and you have to hop through many more hoops than some of the larger developments! In my Rebuild NYC plan, I plan to cut some of that red tape, but I also want to give folks more access to capital. We have a Housing Development Corporation that I think can be playing a much bigger role in assisting our smaller developers to get this done, and that is something that we also delineate in our plan so that we can cut down on the red tape and we can give more access to capital and so that we can hopefully have people that are in our city agencies help process those applications.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

I want to bring us to a finale with a final question in a second, but you said something very important that conjures a penultimate question if you'll allow it.

You mentioned small developers, right?

A lot of the conversation around Abundance and some of the opposition to it talks about big developers and monopolistic approaches generally and this idea of resisting big corporations.

I think the focus on smaller entities – who haven't been able to get in the game, who don't have the resources that those bigger developers or bigger corporations have – seems really key here, both for unlocking this construction, but also for a more competitive market and a more just market.

You spoke a little bit about those policies to support smaller developers, but I'm very curious if you can speak more to this idea of small developers and smaller entrepreneurs and how to get them in the game tackling this.

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

You know, this is a really important point for a couple of reasons.

One, we know that we have to scale development, and that every development cannot look the same, and that every property – every neighborhood – cannot have really high towers (as I think this sometimes gets caricatured as).

What we also need to be cognizant of is that smaller developers are often people of color. They're often women who are looking for opportunities to enter this space, but do not have the networks – do not have the connections, do not have the access to capital – that some of their counterparts do.

This, to me, is just as important: to give these individuals this opportunity, particularly in an environment where we are undergoing attacks from the federal government on diversity and equity and inclusion.

This is an opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth is, and to say, “we can fix the affordability crisis, and we can also give people opportunities in this space as well!”

That's why I'm really excited about the opportunity for an all-of-the-above approach to solving this crisis.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

I want to close on this: it's been a pleasure. For anybody who's listening to this and thinking, “hey, this really aligns with me, and I'd love to put this guy in a position to be able to deliver on these ideas” – what can they be doing? What do you need from them?

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

Please visit Zellnor.nyc!

Z-E-L-L-N-O-R dot N-Y-C. You'll see our vision. You'll see our plans. You’ll see what we've already done. And you'll see what we're trying to do.

You know, we are in a really important moment – not just in this city, but in this entire country.

We are truly undergoing unprecedented attacks on foundational rights – things that we have taken for granted in the past – and we have an opportunity to do something about it.

We can step up in this moment and show that local governance matters. That you can still do big things at the municipal level. That is exactly what I'm trying to do as the next mayor of this city.

I would not be who I am today if I did not have people looking out for me. If I did not go to After School. If I did not have a really good public school.

My mom didn't have an affordable place to live so that she can put food on the table. That same opportunity is being lost for so many people in this city in this moment, and we don't have to accept it. We can do something different. We can go in a different direction.

If you want to help me get there: Zellnor.nyc.

Steve M. BoyleExecutive Director of YIMBY Democrats for America

Zellnor, it's been a delight to chat with you and learn a little bit more about both your plans and your heart. It's been a fast conversation, but we hope to continue it. Come join us again, and thank you for your time today!

Nia JohnsonYIMBY Democrats for America

Yeah, your platform's awesome!

New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was so great.

You know, there's a lot of things in politics. I got into this because I care about the policy, and I want to get the thing done. I want to be in a position to get it done. We have to go through a lot of other things in order to get there.

So I just want to say: thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak to your audience. Because it's going to help us. Every bit counts. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I hope this isn't the last time. Looking forward to being back!

Listen to New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie on Episode II of Radio Abundance: Skyscrapers on the Hudson!