Newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a closed-door meeting Tuesday with members of the Association for a Better New York and the Partnership for New York City. There he assured developers, lenders and investors that he is always open to hearing from them.
“I [assured] that my door will always remain open to their feedback, their concerns and identifying areas of cooperation,” he said at a press conference after the meeting.
The meeting was initiated by the mayor-elect’s transition team, which also scheduled a meeting with homeless advocates later on Tuesday. At the press conference, Mamdani said ABNY CEO Emma Pfohman, the partnership’s outgoing CEO and president Kathy Wylde and its new head, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, helped organize the meeting.
About two dozen people met with the mayor-elect Tuesday morning, including Rob Speyer, CEO of Tishman Speyer and chairman of the partnership; Nadeem Meghji, global co-head of real estate at Blackstone; Priscilla Almodovar, former CEO of Fannie Mae; Jed Walentas, CEO of Two Trees and Chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York; Carlina Rivera, a former City Council member who recently took the helm of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing; and Asahi Pompey, chairman of the urban investment group at Goldman Sachs, Wylde said.
Tenant organizer Cea Weaver, who has advised Mamdani on housing policy, was also present.
Mamdani started the meeting by quoting a comment he made in the newspaper New York Times in June that his views on the role of the private market in housing had evolved, and he now recognizes the “very important” role it plays.
The meeting then addressed a number of issues Mamdani raised at an earlier meeting with the partnership, including his pledge to freeze rents for stabilized tenants for four years and his support for overhauling the city’s property tax system.
“I spoke not only about my continued commitment to freeze rents for more than two million rent-stabilized tenants, but also about my commitment to question and understand the roadblocks they have faced in building more housing in the city and how we can ensure deeper levels of affordability, how we can work together in advocating for the resources this city deserves from the federal government,” Mamdani said at the press conference.
He said he spoke to attendees about the importance of reducing the time it takes to lease affordable housing. It was not immediately clear whether he was specifically talking about units reserved for the formerly homeless, but the average time to rent out such units was 235 days in fiscal year 2025, according to the Management report mayor.
When asked about four pending City Council bills that would add new requirements to city-funded housing, Mamdani took no position. Housing groups have warned the council that implementing the measures, which Wylde said were not discussed at the meeting, would significantly increase the cost of building homes and result in fewer units being built.
“My focus is on building as much housing as possible in the city, and I will continue to engage with the city council on the proposals they have put forward,” Mamdani said.
Wylde said the group discussed the need to fund renovations of rent-stabilized apartments kept off the market, although no specific ideas emerged. Still, she found the meeting ‘very constructive’.
“He took notes throughout the meeting,” Wylde said. “I think he listened and was very interested in what everyone had to say.”
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