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Bold promises to make the city more affordable for New Yorkers catapulted progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani to his unlikely victory on election day. Included are free buses, childcare for all, and a large-scale expansion in affordable homes.

However, turning the city more affordable for residents is an expensive government task, and numerous economists and politicians to Mamdani’s right say he faces too many obstacles to effectively follow through on his signature ideas.

Further complicating matters is the national government, which will almost certainly withhold financial support for New York in an effort to sabotage Mamdani and create funding gaps that make it more difficult to fund fresh initiatives.

Additionally, New York City must secure state legislature authorization to adjust many income sources. An analyst pointed to the state legislature stopping the municipality from increasing pet registration costs in 2014 due to a disagreement between the then mayor and a state representative.

“The dramatic example of stating the issue is the City can’t raise pet permit charges without state approval, and that held true previously, and it remains the case today,” he said.

However, analysts point to tailwinds: Mamdani’s proposals are very popular and would address basic problems. Democrats now have significant control in the state government, and several identify economic and political pathways to implementing the plans a success.

In what ways could Mamdani finance his ambitious agenda? We broke it down by revenue source and initiative.

Generating Revenue

His team projects it could generate approximately $10bn by raising the corporate tax rate, taxes on the wealthy, and existing fee and tax collections.

Detractors claim businesses and the high-earners will move away, but that is contradicted by credible research. Moreover, the corporate tax is on profits made in the region no matter where a company is based, making the argument at least partially moot.

Corporate Tax Increase

The mayor-elect calculates a state tax increase from seven point two five percent and eleven point five percent on corporate profits would generate around five billion dollars, much of which would be funneled to New York City. State leaders would have to authorize the proposal. State lawmakers have previously backed similar proposals, but the state executive is against raising taxes.

However, the state leader supports childcare for all, a highly favored proposal because child services is widely viewed as cost-prohibitive, said one policy director. It would be difficult for moderate Democrats to “resist passing a historical initiative”, he continued. “Nobody says ‘Nothing should be done to make childcare cheaper.’”

The missing element, he said, has been a leader like Mamdani who declares: “Yeah, it costs money, and we will raise taxes to make it happen.”

Raising Taxes on the Affluent

The proposal aims to raising four billion dollars with a two percent increase on those earning above one million dollars annually. Although it’s a city tax, the state legislature must authorize the rise, and the idea is typically resisted by centrist Democrats.

However there is a feasible route, he noted. Increasing revenue on the rich is widely accepted and, as with the business tax hike, allocating the proceeds to support favored initiatives helps to sell in Albany.

Halt on Rent Increases

In terms of expense, a pause on rent hikes on regulated housing is the simplest to implement – it’s minimally costly. However, a halt must be authorized by the rent guidelines board, and there may not be sufficient backing on it until Mamdani appoints members with his own appointments.

Free and Fast Buses

Mamdani estimates fare-free transit will require a minimum of seven hundred million dollars, which includes an evasion rate of forty-eight percent. Analysts suggest Mamdani could probably cover the cost by streamlining or reducing additional services in the city’s $116bn annual spending plan.

Publicly Run Grocery Stores

A pilot program for five public food markets that would be established in underserved “food deserts” is estimated at sixty million dollars and could also be funded by shifting focus in the one hundred sixteen billion dollar spending plan.

Building Affordable Housing Units

Numerous commentators to the right of Mamdani have written off the proposal to spend about one hundred billion dollars developing 200,000 affordable units over 10 years, largely because it would require massive debt. The expert said those opposing this aspect largely overlook that the initiative is does not involve to borrow one hundred billion dollars at once – the liability would be accrued and repaid in phases over several government terms.

He also stressed the plan is not for no-cost homes, but cost-effective residences that would produce income to pay down loans. Moreover, the developments could partially be privately financed.

“This is how the proposal is feasible,” he concluded.

Childcare for All

Establishing universal childcare would cost between two point five billion dollars and twelve billion dollars by many projections, based on whether it is a city or state program and additional variables. Funding is the major uncertainty – will the corporate and wealth taxes pass the state capital? An expert commented he expected some compromise, as is typical with big proposals.

“Proposals that Mamdani promised will likely be scaled back,” the expert said. “And the state leader’s stated opposition to revenue hikes may just face reality – she likely cannot achieve the things she desires on the spending side without compromise on the revenue side.”