Staff Reports
Mayor Zohran Mamdani proudly rolled out a flashy new plan this month called SPEED — Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development — and posed for the cameras at a Bronx track to sell the idea that he’s racing to fix New York City’s housing mess. It sounds good in a press release: move people into affordable apartments faster, cut red tape, and tweak the city’s Housing Connect lottery so more winners actually get keys. But flashy slogans and shortened checklists won’t solve the real problems that keep thousands of units empty and New Yorkers priced out.
What SPEED actually promises — and what it won’t touch
SPEED aims to shave months off approval and permit timelines, speed up lease‑ups, and tighten the Housing Connect lottery so fewer units sit vacant after they’re built. The plan boasts big numbers — cutting some pre‑certification waits from years to months and trimming lease‑up time by nearly half. Those are helpful admin moves, and New Yorkers would welcome quicker approvals. But administrative efficiency is not the same as fixing the policy choices that made the problem in the first place.
PR versus policy: the gaps in Mamdani’s approach
Let’s be blunt: SPEED is a speed bump masquerading as a sprint. While the city cleans up bureaucratic messes, it is refusing to confront the rent‑stabilization regime and state laws that leave landlords unable to afford mandated repairs on low‑rent units. That mismatch — cheaper rent limits set against costly housing‑code repairs — is a major reason so many rent‑stabilized apartments sit vacant. A focused lawsuit by small landlords aims to overturn those harmful state rules and return tens of thousands of “zombie” apartments to the market. If the mayor really wanted housing, he’d take off the track shoes and stop cheering for reforms that avoid the hard choices.
Equity planners, DOJ reviews and political theater
To make matters worse, SPEED arrives alongside the mayor’s sweeping racial equity plan and a new “True Cost of Living” metric — moves that drew a federal Civil Rights Division review. That review underscores a real legal and policy risk when a city ties every housing step to race‑conscious measures without clear guardrails. Critics on the right aren’t the only ones asking questions; ordinary New Yorkers want homes, not more bureaucracy wrapped in woke jargon. SPEED may improve timelines, but it’s also handy political theater to distract from the bigger fixes that would actually increase housing supply.
New York needs practical reforms that go beyond press photos. Cut the rules that make landlords abandon units, rethink policies that push up costs (including rigid union‑only mandates and perverse rent caps), and let the market bring vacant apartments back fast. SPEED could help if it’s followed by serious policy changes and a willingness to break the bad laws on the books. Until then, Mamdani’s race looks more like a lap around the track — lots of motion, precious little progress for the people who need a roof over their heads.
