Mamdani Unveils ‘Cost-Saved Calculator,’ Pitches $8 Billion Affordability Plan with Free Transit, Universal Childcare, and Rent Freeze

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani today sharply focused his campaign on the city’s affordability crisis, releasing an online “Cost-Saved Calculator” designed to show residents the personal financial benefits of his signature proposals: free bus service, universal childcare, and a four-year rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants.

Speaking to supporters and elected officials, including Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris, Mamdani drew a parallel between the “extortion” New Yorkers face today from rising costs and historic corruption, arguing that the financial “squeeze” from high rents, public transit fares, and childcare costs is unacceptable.

“New Yorkers feel the squeeze,” Mamdani stated, pointing to the struggle to afford childcare, the rising cost of public transit (soon to be $3.00), and “rents that seemingly are anything but stabilized,” which he noted have seen a more than 12% increase under the current administration. He highlighted that annual childcare costs have now grown to over $20,000.

The core of his proposal, which he called a “vision that would actually respond to the needs of New Yorkers,” includes three major cost-saving initiatives:

Free and Fast Buses: Mamdani estimates this would save each rider over $2,000 a year, totaling $1.3 billion annually for all riders.

Universal Childcare: By providing free care for children from six weeks to five years, the plan projects a savings of $22,200 per year per family, amounting to a citywide total of $5.5 billion.

Four-Year Rent Freeze: For over two million rent-stabilized tenants, Mamdani claimed this measure would save over $1,7 billion in its first year, including $150 saved every single year for tenants.

Collectively, the candidate argued that his “big three items” would save the people of the city more than $8 billion annually.

Mamdani condemned the current financial burdens, equating them to a pressure New Yorkers would never accept if imposed by organized crime. “We would not accept it if it was the mafia that was forcing New Yorkers to spend $22,200 a year for childcare,” he said, demanding, “So, why are we accepting it today?”

Casting his ambitious agenda as a matter of political courage, he invoked former Mayor La Guardia’s seemingly “bizarre” act in 1935 that lowered prices for millions. He contrasted his focus on what his agenda would “save working New Yorkers” with what he characterized as former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s focus on “what this affordability agenda would cost his donors.”

The mayoral candidate addressed the flight of working- and middle-class residents, noting that they are “already fleeing this city” for states like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Mamdani asserted that New Yorkers deserve a mayor who understands “the crisis of living in the most expensive city in the United States of America” and is willing to put forth a large-scale agenda that has support at all levels of government.