By Jose Guerrero 

The New York City mayoral election is roughly a month away and it not only impacts New York City residents, but will also affect those living in the areas surrounding the city. 

Cost of living is one of the  major issues of the election and dominates voters’ minds. These issues have caused many New Yorkers to leave the city in search of more affordable places to live. Many of them choose to leave the city for areas in Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island. The New York Department of City Planning Population Division stated in their March release that since the 2020 pandemic NYC population dropped from 8.8 to 8.48 million. Back in 2020, many New Yorkers left the city in search of more affordable housing as many of them did not have to commute for work anymore and opted to work from home. Prices for houses have gone up because there is high demand but not enough supply. 

This will severely affect any Adelphi student who wants to find a place of their own during their time here at Adelphi or after. Many hope that this can be changed. Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed building 200,000 permanently affordable housing units over the course of the next 10 years, and he wants to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized apartments. If successful, these initiatives could attract people who left to come back to the city, and help those who are working outside of NYC to worry less about sudden rent hikes. 

Many students commute to Adelphi from New York City since there is a Long Island Railroad stop within walking distance to the university.

Photo by Jose Guerrero

Depending on your major, you might find your future job in the city since it is a central hub for industries such as finance, healthcare, media and technology to name a few. So, any new city laws can cause big changes with your potential area of work. One of the biggest threats comes from NYC businesses that threaten to move away if Zohran Mamdani is elected. In a recent Yahoo news article, Gristedes grocery chain owner John Castimatidis claimed he would move their office to New Jersey if Mamdani wins. 

While history has shown that such threats don’t usually pan out, Momdani wants to focus on small businesses that are important for many communities within NYC.  He offers policy proposals to streamline permitting processes for small businesses and wants to increase funding for small business support.  Mamdani also proposes to cut fines and fees for small businesses by 50% and appoint a “Mom and Pop Czar, ” who will help small businesses with regulations, permits and applications. 

Perhaps changes such as these that could help make NYC affordable will help more Adelphi students retain jobs in the city and allow them to live here.