A Conversation with Zellnor Myrie

Digging in with the NYC mayoral race's YIMBY favorite

Later this month, the City of New York will likely choose its next mayor; the Democratic primary is taking place on June 24th, 2025.

While Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani have drawn the most attention, Zellnor Myrie—a progressive state Senator—has made waves by promising to build a million new homes during his administration by dramatically reforming New York’s zoning code.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Myrie last week about his ambitious plan and run for Mayor.

Hargreaves: Thank you so much for joining. You’ve introduced this plan to build a million new housing units in New York City, which is incredibly exciting and would bring us back to early 20th century housing production levels. But getting housing approved in any given neighborhood is challenging. I go to my local community board meeting in Chelsea and lots of people are opposed to any change.

So where do those million new housing units go?

Myrie: So part of the reason that I have centered my campaign on housing is so that when we win, we can walk into those very community board meetings with a political mandate that New Yorkers have sent us to City Hall to deliver this for them. The alternative is that people will leave this city, outmigration will increase, our tax revenues will go down, and this will be a city that no one can stay in, raise their family in.

We have an ambitious plan that is promised on us building everywhere and building quickly. We want to build in industrial areas that no longer serve the purpose of that industry and are sandwiched in between residential neighborhoods. The market has already indicated by way of applications that people want to develop there. We should expedite that process, then do it on a citywide basis. There are places in the city that are already dense that can build more and that can do more.

It's part of our plan, something I called the “Mega Midtown” where we can increase density, have more mixed income housing. We also have the opportunity to utilize public land, and we have seen some of this in our schools, libraries, vacant public land.

We also have an opportunity on public housing [land] to build mixed income housing that would give the public housing authority much needed revenue but will also diversify communities and give people access to lively and thriving neighborhoods. And we also have an opportunity to create some new neighborhoods. We have Battery Park City. We have Co-op City. It took some ingenuity and some forward-looking thinking, and we plan to do that as well.

Hargreaves: Let’s talk about the process here. I have three young kids in the city. I try to go to community board meeting every chance I get, but that means I miss bedtime—and I work a full-time job. It’s hard. When I do go to the community board meetings, to the block association, it's filled with retirees and totally unrepresentative of the neighborhood.

Is this the right process?

Myrie: In an attempt to inject a more community conversation and as things have evolved, I think we have arrived at a point where there are too many veto points in the process that ends up slowing down much-needed development.

And so I understand and I empathize with the worldview that people should be involved in the process. But as you have alluded to, that process can often exclude many other people who would love to have a say and express their views and who have just as much an interest in the future of the city as anyone else. And so the Charter Revision Commission that was handled earlier this year will be putting forth some recommendations.

And there's some ballot measures that New Yorkers will have a chance to vote on this November—looking to help expedite some of these processes and to reform them. I’m looking forward to seeing what those [Charter Commission] recommendations are and my hope is that they're gonna help us get to a place that is more streamlined so that we can build a much, much needed housing.

Hargreaves: Maybe this is a little on the wonkier side, but there's a lot of focus on zoning code changes. And obviously, zoning code changes and process changes are all very important. It's not just about housing being allowed. It's about the cost of that housing as well.

Have you looked into making any building code changes to bring down the cost of construction?

Myrie: We see this as important in things like commercial conversion to residential. Say, if a [commercial] space is vacant, we should be converting it to residential. But in order for that to have happened in its current form and for it to continue to happen, there had to be adjustments to the building code that would allow for this residential conversion. Whether it's about the requisite amount of windows or figuring out where the pillars are placed to allow for unit construction.

While very deep in the weeds, it’s a necessary component of us getting to more housing. We haven’t only looked at this for commercial conversions, but we’ve also considered the restrictions on how high we can build with a single staircase. That has a profound impact on unit size and being able to build for families and not just one and two bedroom units.

So this is something that we have put in our plan, some suggestions and recommendations on adjustments to the building code. We’re even putting forth as a city some uniform floor plate sizes that can be used by developers to build housing that is appropriate to meet the demand.

Hargreaves: You were a big supporter of the HSTPA (Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act) in 2019. Obviously that's had a positive impact on evictions going down but has also put financial pressure on some rent stabilized buildings, including units that cannot be profitably renovated and returned to market sitting vacant.

Do you regret your vote on the HSTPA given some of the challenges it's introduced in the rent stabilized market? Do you think something needs to be done to fix it?

Myrie: No, I don’t regret my vote on it. I am very proud of the work we did on HSTPA. I grew up in a rent stabilized apartment and my mom lives in one. It has been a source of affordability for countless New Yorkers.

But there is an unfair dynamic that presents New Yorkers with two options: One being that you can cling to the only affordable unit in your neighborhood or you literally have to win the lottery to get into a better development where the elevator doesn't break down every two months, one where you can get repairs.

I also think it is appropriate for us to consider how to help property owners in our rent-stabilized portfolio who are doing the right thing, who are trying their best to keep their building in good repair to get help.

And it is why in my plan I introduce a state-level, government-backed insurance fund similar to what we have seen in the federal context to help those property owners defray some of those insurance costs. And also in instances where the math doesn't work for you to get a new tenant because of the legal rent restrictions that we would allow for a voucher tenant to take that unit even if above the legal rent in order to help make it make financial sense to the property owner.

Hargreaves: That seems like such an obvious answer here. It would both relieve the Section 8 bottleneck—assuming Section 8 continues to be a thing, of course—but doesn’t cost the renter anything while helping the situation with rent stabilization. I don't see why anyone would be opposed to that.

Myrie: That that's my hope, that we'd be able to get that through.

Hargreaves: So one last housing question. What do you do with NYCHA? Like, how do you fix it?

Myrie: I’ve yelled at NYCHA, I've held press conferences, I've gotten repairs, I passed legislation to help expedite repairs. But the truth is, NYCHA is facing an $80 billion capital deficit, and it is a deficit that is a result of divestment through Democratic and Republican federal administrations alike.

And while everyone has pointed to this problem, the solutions have been more scarce. And it is why we have proposed that we utilize a lot of the land that we have on NYCHA for mixed-income development. And doing that without the displacement of a single NYCHA resident, doing it in conjunction with NYCHA residents, but trying to do something that would actually solve the problem.

The land remains under ownership of NYCHA, but it would allow for private development for much needed revenue and revitalization of communities. And I think that this is an actual solution that of course is not without its challenges, but if we do not take this step and if we do not work through those challenges, we're gonna continue to see the entire portfolio remain disrepair. We definitely aren't getting help from this federal administration. And the state and the city do not have enough funds to meet that $80 billion debt.

Hargreaves: Yeah. Here in Chelsea they’re trying to do exactly that with the Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses redevelopment. But it's remarkable to see the volume of opposition to it.

Now on to a few non-housing questions. As I mentioned, I have three kids and live in New York City. It's really, really expensive to do that. Housing is a part of the problem, but it's not just housing.

So what are some of the things you would do to make it easier to raise a family in New York City?

Myrie: One of the other main components of my campaign is expanding pre-K and allowing pre-K to go past 2:30 p.m. because most New Yorkers do not get off work at 2:30 p.m, so we’re extending it to 6 p.m. And in conjunction with that, we’re making afterschool free and available to everyone.

I'm a product of afterschool, my mom didn't get off the but she knew that there was a place that I could stay where I could be off the streets and I could learn karate. I could be on the step team. I could get reinforcements on the things that I may have missed during the day. And this is to me a game changer for the city for a number of reasons.

One, it is a public safety tool. We know that between the hours of three and six PM that our kids are getting involved in things we don't want them to. So let's keep them inside.

Two, it is a relief for working parents. If you have children that are under six years old, you are twice as likely to leave the city because you cannot afford child care. So let’s provide that.

And three because it keeps people in the city and they make some different professional decisions to invest in our local economy. It is actually good for our revenue and other jurisdictions that have made childcare more universally affordable and accessible. We have seen that over time and it usually happens relatively quickly that the added revenue from families making the decision to stay ends up paying for the program in and of itself.

And so this to me has to be the focus of the next mayor. And it is something I've been talking about on the campaign trail really, really often because we cannot be a city where you can't afford a place to stay and you can't afford to raise a family.

Hargreaves: Obviously your message resonates with me, but the polling has not been kind to you thus far. Why do you think that is and what's the plan?

Myrie: It's early still. For those of us who consume politics on a daily basis, it may seem like this race has been at the top of everyone's attention for a while, but the truth is voters are just starting to tune in. And it's why I had been spending a lot of time going throughout the five boroughs, meeting people where they're at, the subways, hitting churches, hitting community centers, but also getting up on TV. We raised the requisite amount to get our message out to voters and it's it's working.

You know, we went up on TV close to two weeks ago and I'm having people stop me in the street and recognizing my middle school teacher that is featured in the ad and my plan is to continue to do that and put that vision out. The polls in previous cycles have generally not been indicative of who ends up prevailing.

I trust that New York City voters are going to do the right thing and I'm excited to continue to put that vision out right when people are starting to pay attention.

Hargreaves: Thank you so, much for taking the time today. Wish you the best of luck in the race.

You can read more about Myrie’s housing plan, Rebuild NYC, here.