• NYC City Hall released its detailed plans for affordable housing.
• Mamdani is supporting new construction, apartment-friendly zoning, homebuyer assistance, and more.
• The mayor hopes the plan will help lower- and middle-income New Yorkers.

Zohran Mamdani has ambitious ideas for New York City housing.

The Mayor's Office dropped its detailed policy plan — called "Block by Block" — on May 26, outlining goals to build more apartment buildings, convert unused offices and hotels into living space, and help residents navigate one of America's most expensive housing markets. Housing access has been a cornerstone of Mamdani's affordability agenda, with buzzy promises to freeze the rent for a large swathe of NYC apartments and address "bad landlords."

"When New Yorkers can afford a home, they can afford to dream," Mamdani said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

From construction to creative living solutions, here are Business Insider's biggest takeaways from City Hall's plan.

Boosting building opportunities

New York needs to build, baby, build. Vacancy rates hovering at historic lows are one of the biggest factors pushing up rents in the city, and Mamdani's blueprint lays out a slew of measures that aim to both reduce the costs of building and get more stock online.

Part of the plan is to simply build more housing, with a goal of 200,000 more homes in the next ten years. That's underwritten by $2.5 billion allocated towards more building from the mayor's budget, with the homes built subject to regulations that bolster construction workers' pay and benefits.

City Hall also wants to build more on public sites like Sunnyside Yards, a rail hub in Queens that sits between several bustling neighborhoods. That proposal would connect the neighborhoods currently separated by rail tracks, and build a deck over the rail infrastructure that could house what the report calls "a new complete neighborhood." The report also notes that the city would need federal support to build that new neighborhood — part of Mamdani's pitch to Queens native Donald Trump in early 2026.

Some proposals hinge on existing (and future) buildings. One is a program that would lower insurance costs for affordable and rent-stabilized units, which have seen soaring premiums. The plan says it would infuse $100 million to help fund a newer, more affordable insurance program, with a goal of both keeping costs more stable for current housing and saving the city money on new builds, since it currently has to subsidize those higher insurance prices.

Other aspects of the plan include expanding access to a water affordability benefit for those in affordable housing, and expanding a program that helps rental buildings and income-restricted co-ops improve their energy efficiency. The plan also aims to improve elevator service in public housing, and address leaks and plumbing issues in those units.

Supporting creative housing solutions

Through partnerships with developers and revised zoning policies, the mayor plans to convert some existing commercial buildings into apartments. The city said the recent overturning of a decades-old state cap on new developments would allow more NYC buildings to be allocated toward housing.

Both the local and state governments are working to convert the historic, and currently vacant, Stewart Hotel in midtown Manhattan into permanent housing for 550 households. Roughly half the units will be dedicated to providing affordable options for formerly-homeless and low-income households, per the plan. Some of the buildings' square footage will also be dedicated to providing on-site social services for tenants.

A largely vacant commercial skyscraper on Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue received zoning approval in March. The building, which is on city-owned land, will be converted into 1,200 apartments, 350 of which will be "deeply affordable." Former private office building 100 Gold Street — which currently houses various city agencies in lower Manhattan — will also be converted into 3,700 apartments, 900 of which will be permanently-affordable homes.

The city also said it is trying to make it easier for New Yorkers to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property. That includes a program to help residents navigate their hyper-local zoning laws for ADUs, especially in historic districts. The city plans to streamline permitting for manufactured ADUs, which are significantly cheaper than custom-built units, making them easier for property owners to install for use by renters, elderly family members, or guests.

Beyond building more housing, Mamdani plans to begin a pilot this year to legalize basement apartments in the city. This will make it easier for homeowners to ensure their basements are up to code and can be made into safe apartment units. Homeowners who participate in the pilot this year will receive some financial support from the city to install smoke alarms, test for contaminants, and more.

Helping New Yorkers navigate the housing market

NYC is notorious for its cutthroat housing market, and renters make up 70% of city residents.

The Mamdani administration said it is taking steps to curb "bad landlords" by strengthening code enforcement and taking action against property owners who harass or neglect their tenants. The city is already hosting "rental ripoff" hearings in all five boroughs so that New Yorkers can share their concerns directly with City Hall, and the mayor said he is strengthening legal avenues for tenants to expedite emergency repairs. Mamdani also said he supports the development of tenant unions, which help renters collectively protect their rights. This goes alongside plans to reduce evictions and speed up cases in housing court.

City Hall wants to make New York more affordable for buyers, too. Mamdani is set to expand an existing downpayment assistance program to serve up to 300 lower-income first-time homebuyers. A new mortgage assistance program will provide repayable, no-interest loans to help low-income homeowners resolve mortgage problems.

The mayor added that he is moving forward on plans to freeze the rent in NYC's rent-stabilized apartments alongside City Council, but the policy has not yet been implemented.

The success of a rent freeze — alongside many of the other programs in the city's housing plan — will hinge on legislative support and funding at the local, state, and, sometimes, federal levels. Still, the mayor is feeling confident.

"Combined, these efforts will lead to growth beyond anything New Yorkers have seen in generations," Mamdani said. "For some, the dream of home ownership will finally be within reach. Others will be able to sleep easily in homes they no longer fear losing."

• TSA workers are unpaid and face another missed check on March 27 during the partial shutdown.
• Congress has to allocate funding for TSA workers to get paid, but is scheduled to recess after March 27.
• In the meantime, travelers have been stuck in chaos as TSA workers call out or quit.

As lines snake across airports and Transportation Security Administration workers clock in for another day without pay, a major turning point in the ongoing chaos looms on March 27.

Come Friday, around 47,000 TSA workers are set to miss yet another paycheck, according to their union, the American Federation of Government Employees. That's due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, which has left most of the Department of Homeland Security unfunded. TSA workers haven't received full paychecks since February 14. As a result, hundreds of TSA workers have quit, and thousands have called out of work, contributing to ongoing travel snarls for Americans trying to fly.

Friday might mark more than another empty paycheck: March 27 is the final date Congress is scheduled to be in session before a two-week recess, and lawmakers need to come to a DHS funding deal for TSA workers to get paid.

Lawmakers have clashed over funding DHS after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good, with Democrats calling for reforms to ICE and Customers and Border Protection. Ultimately, the rest of the government was funded while leaving DHS in the lurch, even as ICE agents are still paid through separate funding from President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill last year.

There is some potential for relief. Some lawmakers have signaled that they're ready to move forward on a deal, according to CBS News. If that does move forward, the agency could be funded ahead of the break, and workers would start collecting paychecks again.

"President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country—especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families," Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Business Insider. "This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 458 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent."

The TSA woes are being felt at airports across the country. Some travelers have spent hours waiting in lines and faced harrowing conditions as they attempted to navigate through security. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport are both warning passengers to expect wait times of 4 or more hours. To try to mitigate the situation, the Trump administration has sent in ICE agents, a move that AFGE slammed over agents lacking aviation security training.

Mike Gayzagian, president of AFGE Local 2617, which represents TSA workers in airports across New England, said Friday could mark a "hard choice" for TSA workers. If they go without pay, but know there's a deal in place for funding, there might not be a major staffing issue, he said. He thinks that, for some workers, the "damage has already been done."

"It's a good-paying job, and good-paying jobs are hard to find, and reliable, good-paying jobs are even harder to find. The federal government was the gold standard for good-paying, reliable jobs," Gayzagian said. "After this, that's no longer the case. I think a lot of discussion will surround that fact later on, after this is over."