In a striking shift in New York City politics, all leading Democratic candidates for mayor agree on one thing: the city needs significantly more housing. However, despite this rare consensus, sharp differences remain on how and where to build it.

“For the first time, we’re seeing every mayoral candidate recognize our housing shortage and include building more homes as part of their housing plan,” said Annemarie Gray, executive director of Open New York. “Four years ago it would have been inconceivable to see every mayoral platform across the spectrum feature strategies to build more homes, and faster.”

This new political posture was on full display during the June 4 Democratic primary debate, where seven out of nine candidates emphasized housing development as key to affordability. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, City Comptroller Brad Lander, and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams have all committed to ambitious housing targets—many echoing Mayor Eric Adams’ goal of 500,000 new homes in a decade.

Still, the details diverge. Mamdani’s platform centers on rent stabilization, but he also supports higher density around transit and upzoning affluent neighborhoods. “Increase density around mass transit hubs” and “upzone wealthier neighborhoods,” he said on Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” podcast, referencing successful models in Tokyo and Jersey City.

Myrie, meanwhile, is pushing an even more aggressive plan: 700,000 homes over ten years. His proposal calls for targeted rezonings in Midtown Manhattan, transit-rich industrial zones in Brooklyn and Queens, and redevelopment of public housing sites while retaining all current units. “Somebody on his team went to planning school or is up to date on YouTube urbanism,” said Nicholas Dagen Bloom, a professor of urban planning at Hunter College.

Despite backing rent freezes for 2.5 million tenants, Mamdani isn’t alone in that stance. Myrie, Lander, Adrienne Adams, and former Comptroller Scott Stringer have all endorsed a one-year freeze, though it’s a less central part of their platforms.

“To most voters, these types of long-term promises of development are simply disconnected from how they are thinking about their housing situation,” said Ben Max, program director at New York Law School. “Whereas, when you get promises like freezing the rent on rent stabilized apartments, you are directly speaking to people's current housing situations and their near-term concerns.”

Even as he champions housing production, Myrie remains realistic about the political hurdles. Redeveloping NYCHA complexes—like the controversial mixed-income plan in Chelsea—is a sensitive issue. “The fears that NYCHA residents have of private development are not unfounded. They are legitimate,” Myrie said, but added that such projects must remain an option given NYCHA’s worsening fiscal outlook. “Because even during quote unquote good times, NYCHA has not received the investment that it deserves.”

Myrie hopes that putting housing at the center of his campaign will give him a “political mandate to get it done,” but so far, Mamdani leads him in the polls.

Cuomo, considered a frontrunner, proposes building in high-density neighborhoods while opposing “further zoning changes” in low-density zones. Critics argue that Cuomo’s “balancing act” is meant to appeal to both development-wary voters and powerful donors. “Even though he's put out this idea of 500,000 new housing units, I think there's real questions about the degree to which he would pursue a significant pro-growth strategy,” Max said.

Cuomo’s connections to the real estate industry are evident in the contributions to SuperPACs supporting his bid. Still, he touts his housing expertise from his time at HUD under President Bill Clinton.

Other candidates point to their own records: Adrienne Adams highlights her role in passing City of Yes upzonings; Lander references his involvement in Brooklyn’s Gowanus rezoning.

While most are vague on precise locations for new housing, Myrie’s plan stands out for its geographic specificity and regulatory proposals, such as easing restrictions on small apartment buildings.

Ultimately, Myrie argues that a balanced strategy is necessary. “If we do not increase housing of all types, including market-rate housing, then we are going to give people like my mom two options: either cling to a rent-regulated unit where in the apartment building the elevator breaks every two months, or to literally have to win the lottery to go to a newer development that sees thousands of applicants per unit whenever those come online,” he said. “I refuse that premise.”

As federal aid shrinks and the Trump administration scales back HUD, many candidates are shifting focus to local tools like the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. “In order to maximize the taxpayer dollar in this moment, it is important for us to leverage the market,” Myrie said.

While Cuomo, Mamdani, and Myrie differ in approach, the acknowledgment of a housing supply crisis has redefined the political debate. “Even among people to the further left on the political spectrum, it's almost become a given that New York needs a lot more housing supply, which is a pretty remarkable shift,” Max said. “Why? Because the data has simply become too overwhelming.”

Originally reported by Benjamin Schneider in Bloomberg.