Zohran Mamdani fights $10B NYC housing voucher expansion in U-turn from campaign promise

New mayor, same as the old mayor.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is continuing the legacy of his predecessor Eric Adams by formally appealing a City Council-led expansion of the Big Apple’s housing voucher program — a reverse of a campaign promise.

On Tuesday, Mamdani filed his appeal in the state’s highest court, claiming that the council was attempting to “commandeer” authority over the program, known as CityFHEPS.

That 2023 law would lower requirements to entry and also increase income eligibility, and could bring in up to 50,000 new families to the rental voucher program at a cost of over $10 billion in the first five years.

While city lawyers decry the state of the “woefully underfunded” program, they say the move usurps the authority of city agencies to allocate public assistance.

City lawyers claim the council’s law violates the “interconnected and inextricable chain of authority” between the city and the state, and are not allowed to write their own rules due to this “unique structure.”

“We have no doubt about the Council’s good motives, but the local laws are invalid,” the brief states.