Advocacy: It's high time for progressive leadership in government
In the upcoming elections, the focus for Democratic nominees, should they secure victory in November, is on addressing systemic challenges faced by New Yorkers, particularly issues of affordability, housing, transit, and municipal financial health.
Recognising the inadequate response from the federal government, New York's cities are grappling with critically aged infrastructure and are forced to rely on short-term grants, fragmented programs, and lose-lose operational trade-offs to fund essential services.
To address these pressing concerns, a unified progressive coalition in New York State is emerging, aiming to deliver a new blueprint for shared prosperity. This coalition, spanning diverse regions from the Hudson Valley to Flatbush, is focused on state-level housing reform and municipal finance reform.
One of the coalition's key strategies is building a broad and inclusive coalition across regions, bridging old divides between urban and rural, upstate and downstate, reformists and pragmatists. This unity can unify around common urgent issues such as housing affordability and municipal fiscal health, overcoming the fragmentation that has hindered past progressive efforts.
Addressing the affordable housing crisis holistically is another priority. New York faces an affordability crisis where working families spend between 40% and 60% of their income on rent, and homeownership is out of reach for many generations. The coalition aims to increase the supply of affordable housing statewide, reform zoning and land-use laws, and prevent displacement and gentrification effects that price people out of their neighbourhoods.
Advancing municipal finance reform is also crucial. Many parts of New York are experiencing population decline and economic stagnation, weakening their tax bases. The progressive blueprint includes restoring and expanding state support to local governments, reforming tax codes to increase revenue fairness, and innovating fiscal tools for municipal governments to sustain and grow their communities equitably.
The coalition is leveraging the progressive political momentum gained from recent electoral victories of candidates like Zohran Mamdani and others backed by the Working Families Party. This momentum can be harnessed to push a legislative agenda that includes enacting progressive tax reforms, increasing public investment in housing and transit infrastructure, and improving social safety nets and public services that anchor stable communities.
Finally, the coalition is committed to fostering a vision beyond election cycles, creating lasting partnerships across progressive leaders statewide to tackle systemic issues collaboratively rather than in segmented or localized ways.
The time to address municipal finance reform in New York is now. The affordability crisis and population decline are causing concerns about whether New York will remain an attractive place for people to live, work, and raise families. Investing in public innovation is crucial to address housing issues in New York, and bolder solutions, such as zoning reform, rent stabilization, state-led construction, and social housing, are needed to reverse population loss and attract the workforce of the future in New York.
As New York prepares for an influx of people due to the climate crisis, the state must prepare for this future by building infrastructure that can support a larger population. Unlocking underutilized state-owned land, overriding exclusionary zoning, and streamlining the approval process are necessary for housing reform in New York. Local governments in New York need greater authority, resources, and flexibility to meet housing demand, especially for affordable and mixed-income housing.
References: [1] The Indypendent, "New York State's Progressive Coalition: A Blueprint for Shared Prosperity," 2021. [2] The City, "Zohran Mamdani's NYC Mayoral Platform: A Progressive Agenda for the City," 2021. [3] Gotham Gazette, "Working Families Party-Backed Candidates Win Primary Victories in New York State Politics," 2021.
- The local government, recognizing the need for a comprehensive solution to the affordable housing crisis, is leaning towards state-level policy-and-legislation changes, focusing specifically on housing reform and municipal finance reform as a pathway towards shared prosperity.
- To tackle the critical infrastructure issues in New York, the progressive coalition is advocating for bolder solutions such as zoning reform, rent stabilization, state-led construction, and social housing, which they believe will reverse population loss and attract the workforce of the future.
- With the upcoming elections, the coalition is aiming to push a legislative agenda that includes progress in policy-and-legislation, like enacting tax reforms, increasing public investment in infrastructure, and improving social safety nets and public services, all in an effort to create stable communities.
