Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute. Adjunct Lecturer, Yale School of Architecture. Formerly, NYC Dept. of City Planning. All opinions my own.
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Articles by Eric Kober
Mamdani Sets Ambitious Housing Goal
Governance, Cities, Economics New York City, Bigger Apple Substack 1 Minute Read Donate Are you interested in supporting the Manhattan Institute’s public-interest research and journalism? As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, donations in support of MI and its scholars’ work are fully tax-deductible as provided by law (EIN #13-2912529).
A Housing Fight New York Doesn’t Need
The city needs more housing. John Mangin’s pending confirmation to chair a city land-use board should not devolve into a culture war on development. / States and Cities, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law / Eye on the News / States and Cities, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law For all of New York’s political divisions, there is broad recognition that the city is dealing with a serious housing problem.
Mayor Mamdani’s relentless war on landlords
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week released his Rental Ripoff Hearing Report, with 23 policy recommendations allegedly built on testimony from five borough hearings held earlier this year. Perhaps wanting to preempt further criticism that his administration’s policies are hostile to landlords—most recently, a Rent Guidelines Board freeze on rent increases for rent-stabilized tenants—the report acknowledges that “High-Road” landlords exist and deserve the city’s support.
Mayor Mamdani’s Relentless War on Landlords
The Rental Ripoff Hearing Report’s recommendations would harm the private rental housing sector New York City needs to thrive. / States and Cities, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law / Eye on the News / States and Cities, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week released his Rental Ripoff Hearing Report, with 23 policy recommendations allegedly built on testimony from five borough hearings held earlier this year.
Mamdani’s frozen rent will make NYC more unaffordable
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Mamdani’s frozen rent will make NYC more unaffordable
With Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s supporters exultant over the rent freeze approved by his stacked Rent Guidelines Board, it’s perhaps rude to point out the many downsides of this latest pander to his voter base. Point out we must, however: Mamdani’s board has created a crazily skewed housing market in which some people are big winners, and most others lose — while the city becomes less dynamic.
Congress’s Housing Bill: Modest But Meaningful
Congressional negotiators announced last week that they had reached bipartisan agreement on a housing bill, the “21st Century Road to Housing Act.” The legislation has now passed both houses, though President Trump’s position on it is unclear. The bill responds to the widespread belief that action on housing is critical to addressing the electorate’s “affordability” concerns.
Mamdani’s First Rezoning Test
The five-month-old NYC mayoral administration of Zohran Mamdani recently announced its first rezoning initiative. The Department of City Planning (DCP) will undertake a community consultation in anticipation of proposing zoning changes in the “South of Prospect” area of Brooklyn. A map published by DCP shows a study area bounded roughly by Fort Hamilton Parkway and Parkside Ave.
Mamdani Masters the Budget Game
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took a victory lap around the City Hall rooftop with the release of his proposed balanced budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins on July 1. He’s closed a $12 billion funding gap he inherited on taking office, he claims, without resorting to the dreaded austerity measures supposedly demanded by budget grumps who, unlike him, want to harm “working people” and benefit the wealthy. Balancing the budget is, of course, the mayor’s job, by law.
Ripple by The Washington Post
Newly released employment data from April show that New York City’s private-sector growth slowed in 2025, especially toward the year’s end. This slowdown signals declining opportunities for New Yorkers and threatens to worsen fiscal problems for both the city and state governments. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program provides these data through a monthly survey of business establishments, offering the latest state and local employment information.
New York City’s Job Slowdown
Newly released employment data from April show that New York City’s private-sector growth slowed in 2025, especially toward the year’s end. This slowdown signals declining opportunities for New Yorkers and threatens to worsen fiscal problems for both the city and state governments. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program provides these data through a monthly survey of business establishments, offering the latest state and local employment information.
Eric Kober Mamdani Taps an Equity Advocate as Chief Planner New York’s new planning chief faces a steep learning curve. Mamdani Taps an Equity Advocate as Chief Planner Read on Substack Donate City Journal is a publication of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (MI), a leading free-market think tank. Are you interested in supporting the magazine? As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, donations in support of MI and City Journal are fully tax-deductible as provided by law (EIN #13-2912529).
Mamdani's Hollow Threats on Taxes
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani releases the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Preliminary Budget. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office. Among the many sins former New York City mayor Eric Adams must answer for is leaving his successor, Zohran Mamdani, a colossal budget deficit of roughly $12 billion this fiscal year and next. Earlier this week, Mamdani released a revised financial plan where he asserted that closing the deficit would be possible in only two ways.
Mamdani's many ways to shut budget hole
Among the many sins former Mayor Eric Adams must answer for is leaving his successor, Zohran Mamdani, a colossal budget deficit of roughly $12 billion this fiscal year and next. Earlier this week, Mamdani released a revised financial plan where he asserted that closing the deficit would be possible in only two ways. Since increasing tax rates for high earners is a nonstarter for Gov. Hochul, the mayor offered an alternative.
Mamdani’s Many Ways to Shut Budget Hole
Among the many sins former Mayor Eric Adams must answer for is leaving his successor, Zohran Mamdani, a colossal budget deficit of roughly $12 billion this fiscal year and next. Earlier this week, Mamdani released a revised financial plan where he asserted that closing the deficit would be possible in only two ways. Since increasing tax rates for high earners is a nonstarter for Gov. Hochul, the mayor offered an alternative.
Boston’s Mayor Makes the Wrong Call on Rent Control
Michelle Wu is backing a bad housing policy that refuses to die. / Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law / Eye on the News / Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law Earlier this week, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu endorsed a restrictive version of rent control that supporters are pushing for a November statewide ballot referendum in Massachusetts. “There is so much urgency and pressure from housing costs on our residents,” she said.
Who Can Solve Our Housing Crisis?
/ From the Magazine / Economy, Finance, and Budgets, Politics and Law In late 2025, American households faced an extraordinarily unsatisfactory housing environment, marked by record-high prices and rents that outpaced income growth. The flawed policies that produced these conditions are well known to experts, yet they have persisted—in many cases, for decades. In recent years, an energized activist community has achieved some notable housing progress at the state and local levels.
Hochul’s Proposal Could Ease New York’s Housing Crisis
The governor’s environmental-review reforms will speed up new construction—if the state legislature cooperates. / Politics and Law, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, States and Cities / Eye on the News / Politics and Law, Economy, Finance, and Budgets, States and Cities The nationwide movement against regulatory barriers to building housing has reached Albany.
How Mamdani Can Keep His Principles and Still Do Good for NYC’s Housing Market
“One might think that socialism and deregulation do not go together, but Mamdani’s campaign gave hints that he might be willing to take on some heretofore untouchable interest groups.” As an economist and city planner inclined to let markets have free rein, I didn’t view democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as my ideal mayoral candidate. However, now that he has won, I would prefer that his upcoming mayoralty improve the city, rather than accelerate its decline.
"Rental Ripoffs" and Economic Realities
Photo by Matthew Moloney on Unsplash Moving fast, Mayor Mamdani announced Sunday both the appointment of a new housing commissioner, Dina Levy, and that the city will hold “Rental Ripoff” hearings in all five boroughs to expose “poor conditions” and “unconscionable business practices” the city will then “act upon.” There’s an interesting juxtaposition between the city’s beneficence to affordable housing developers and its ruthless crushing of rental landlords, for Levy takes over a vast...
The Return of the NYC Homeless Encampment
Good morning: Last week, mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pledged he will put a stop to clearing homeless encampments in New York City, a signature initiative of the Adams administration. “If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need,” said Mamdani, “then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success.” But NYC has plenty of shelter for the homeless. They simply won’t use it.
A Constructive Land-Use, Housing, and Economic Development Agenda for Mayor Mamdani
Many policies advocated by Zohran Mamdani as a New York City mayoral candidate were viewed skeptically by commentators who do not share his democratic socialist politics.[1] Within my own areas of expertise—land-use, housing, and economic development policy—I’ve shared that skepticism.[2] Now that he has won, however, even skeptics should hope that he succeeds in making the city more affordable.
Tough Questions for Zohran Mamdani
As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to enter City Hall, he will need to transition from the work of campaigning to governing. The problems confronting the city—and Mamdani—are far bigger than his supporters have wanted to admit. Any new mayor must face hard questions. We spoke with several Manhattan Institute scholars about which ones they are especially keen to hear him answer. This site is protected by hCaptcha and its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
New York City’s Election Marks the Rise of the “Left-YIMBY”
Voters’ passage this week of key New York City Charter changes—which will shift certain powers over zoning from the city council to the mayor—was the work of the same coalition that elected Zohran Mamdani mayor, plus an enlarged group of historically Democratic constituencies that supported Andrew Cuomo. The “no” voters, by contrast, were concentrated in neighborhoods that voted both for Cuomo in 2025 and Donald Trump for president in 2024.
Outdated Zoning Rules Choke New York City’s Housing Growth
New York City’s housing supply crunch is the consequence of many bad policy choices. One that still plays a role today, more than 60 years on, is the 1961 decision to invent “manufacturing zones”—zoning districts intended for public facilities and industrial businesses thought to be incompatible with residences, which were excluded from these areas.
Why is New York’s City Council Trying to End-Run Housing Reform?
New Yorkers insufficiently bemused by Mayor Eric Adams’ ongoing flirtations with dropping out of the mayoral race can now also take alarm at a developing city-charter crisis. The city council is reportedly scheming with members of the Board of Elections to block proposed amendments to the city charter on the November ballot. That would be against the public interest, and arguably contrary to the law.
Rethinking the Fixes for America’s Cost of Living
Good morning, From the ivory tower to City Hall, MI scholars show why progress depends on questioning orthodoxy and resisting easy answers. On Wednesday, new MI senior fellow Danielle Sassoon’s speech at Yale Law School was reprinted in The Free Press. A former federal prosecutor and Scalia clerk, Sassoon urged incoming law students to resist the intellectual conformity that dominates elite campuses and to embrace debate—even when it means challenging peers, professors, or powerful superiors.
On the Ballot: NYC Charter Revision Commission’s Housing Revolution
Governance, Economics, Cities New York City 27 Minute Read Share In July 2025, the New York City Charter Revision Commission (NYC CRC) appointed by Mayor Eric Adams approved five November ballot questions proposing revisions to the city charter, the document establishing the structure and functions of city government. This brief addresses the first three questions, which, taken as a whole, represent a major restructuring of the land-use approval process.
Mamdani’s Success Is Not a Response to Austerity
New York City is well known for its expansive public sector. New York State is first nationally in state and local taxes per capita and as a percent of personal income, and second in terms of state and local spending per capita. While those statistics aren’t available at the municipal level, state spending is certainly getting funneled to Gotham. Forty-seven percent of New York City residents are enrolled in Medicaid, for example, compared with 35 percent statewide.
Gotham’s Looming Fiscal Crisis
Since Zohran Mamdani’s unexpectedly decisive win in New York City’s mayoral primary, the media have speculated whether Albany will approve his ambitious tax-raising agenda if he emerges victorious in November. Mamdani believes that tax hikes will enable him to fund major new spending initiatives, such as free bus rides and universal childcare.
Zohran Mamdani Tops the NYC Mayoral Primary
Good morning: This week, 33-year-old socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani emerged as the likely Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City. His main challenger, former governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded the race on Tuesday night.
Why The Center-Right Failed to Gain Traction
Many center-right commentators argue that the 2025 New York City Democratic primary candidates have failed to confront the city’s core challenges: excessive spending, high taxes, and heavy regulation. They contend that residents receive inadequate services in return and that the city, rather than fostering economic competitiveness, relies on its fading prestige to retain affluent residents and major firms in finance and professional services.
NYC Panel Asks, Who Controls Land Use?
In the spring of 2025, a New York City Charter Revision Commission is considering, largely in media obscurity, big changes in the distribution of power and patronage in the city. In a new Manhattan Institute brief, I discuss one category of potential major changes to the city charter, affecting the land use decision-making process.
Why Northeast Rail Travel Is Such a Mess
Americans who live in and travel through the Northeast Corridor, from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, face frequent reminders that their transportation options are not commensurate with the region’s . Northeast travelers can drive or take an intercity bus on the heavily congested I-95, which is being continually upgraded by eager state transportation departments (though congestion almost always rebounds).
Where New York’s Mayoral Candidates Stand on Housing
New York City has a critical housing shortage, as shown by its extremely low rental vacancy rates and record rents. Unfortunately, the front-runner mayoral candidate and the most competitive runners-up aren’t serious about addressing this crisis. When a city has greater housing demand than supply, it can escape this bind either by suppressing demand or increasing supply. New York City does neither.
Why Penn Station Is So Hard to Fix
New Yorkers have greeted U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s announcement last week of a federal takeover of the Pennsylvania Station improvement project with weary skepticism. That skepticism is warranted. The Gordian knot of Penn Station has defeated decades of well-intentioned efforts at improvement by various levels of government. Despite numerous proposals and partial renovations, Penn Station remains hamstrung by deep-rooted engineering, financial, and logistical challenges.
Combating Radicalism
Good morning: This week, MI scholars examined how to push back against the dangerous strain of left-wing radicalism that has captured America’s most powerful institutions—and much of its politics. In City Journal, Jesse Arm and Charles Fain Lehman argue that the recent assassination attempt on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro—carried out by a man with unmedicated mental illness, out on bail for a violent crime—offers the 2028 presidential contender a moment of reckoning.
Reforming New York City’s Land-Use Process
In my 38-year career as a city planner in New York City, I often sensed the bemused shade of the master builder, Robert Moses, commenting ironically on the futility of promoting growth in the face of antidevelopment activists and elected officials.
Robert Moses and His Lasting Legacy
The Power Broker, Robert Caro’s book about New York City’s master builder, Robert Moses, turned 50 in 2024. Caro’s compelling tale of untrammeled, corrupted power wielded by one man over decades seems as vivid to the young today as it was to me when I was a teenager reading excerpts in The New Yorker. Naturally, Moses objected vehemently to Caro’s characterization of his career. So did others.
Progressive politicians want more housing in NYC — so why are they making it so hard to add apartments in Midtown? Original
New Yorkers who don’t eat, live and breathe zoning — which is to say, nearly all of us — might be surprised to discover that there are four enclaves in and around Midtown Manhattan that do not allow new housing. Forget the vast investment in subway lines and the walkable proximity to the nation’s largest job concentration; decades ago, city planners decided these neighborhoods had a future in manufacturing. Residences were viewed as incompatible.
OPINION: Candidates Must Pledge to Strengthen 'City of Yes' to End Parking Mandates
The City Council’s recent compromise in passing Mayor Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, watering down the original proposal’s elimination of mandatory parking, must be a central issue in the coming mayoral race.
Candidates Must Pledge to Strengthen ‘City of Yes’ to End Parking Mandates
Anyone not supporting the elimination of parking mandates is only perpetuating our city's housing crisis, says this planning expert. The City Council’s recent compromise in passing Mayor Adams’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, watering down the original proposal’s elimination of mandatory parking, must be a central issue in the coming mayoral race.
Kathy Hochul’s Misguided Housing Proposal
Burnishing her progressive credentials in advance of the 2026 Democratic primary, New York governor Kathy Hochul has proposed restricting institutional investors’ ability to purchase single- and two-family homes. While such a policy, she argues, “would put potential homeowners first, making sure Wall Street doesn’t take over Main Street,” it would in fact do little for buyers, while deterring private investment in housing-stock upgrades.
The Un-FARE Act
Little more than a week after a national election that brought forth commentary about how Democratic politicians’ misrule of large cities harmed the party’s credibility with voters, the New York City Council decided once again to prove those critics correct. The council approved the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act, which prohibits real estate brokers from charging prospective tenants fees to rent an apartment.
NYC Mayor's Housing Proposal Faces Uphill Climb
New York City mayor Eric Adams’s indictmenton September 26 came just a day after the City Planning Commission approved, by a ten to three vote, the signature land-use initiative of his mayoralty, the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” (CHO) zoning proposal. CHO would moderately liberalize zoning restrictions to achieve incremental progress towards Adams’s “moonshot” goal of constructing 500,000 housing units in the city over a ten-year period.
Op-ed: New York needs to look back 60 years to solve its housing crisis
In New York City neighborhoods like Riverdale, Flushing and Sheepshead Bay, you’ll see nearly uniform red-brick apartment buildings, all six stories tall, often among small homes. In the 1950’s and early 1960’s, they were a good solution to making housing affordable to middle-income families. But their construction abruptly ceased as a result of zoning changes in 1961 that greatly diminished the locations where such buildings could be built in the boroughs outside Manhattan.
What Would New York City’s Housing “Moonshot” Look Like?
Economics, Cities, Governance Housing, New York City 27 Minute Read In a recent Manhattan Institute brief, I wrote that newly enacted state housing legislation and New York City’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” (CHO) zoning amendment (if passed as proposed): should push NYC’s permits for new housing units meaningfully higher than would have been the case, had the legislature not acted…. However, housing will remain in critically short supply in the city.
New York will receive the housing relief it needs Original
Recent housing reform legislation in Albany revealed a rare bipartisan effort to bring real change to New Yorkers. Getty Images/iStockphoto New Yorkers despairing about the housing-supply crisis can breathe a small sigh of relief thanks to much-needed state legislation passed in April. In a negotiating triumph for Gov.
New York Will Receive the Housing Relief It Needs
New Yorkers despairing about the housing-supply crisis can breathe a small sigh of relief thanks to much-needed state legislation passed in April. In a negotiating triumph for Gov. Hochul, the Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature — previously bent on driving private capital out of the housing sector since taking control in 2018 — showed unexpected flexibility and a measure of common sense.
Good news for Hochul and Adams: More New Yorkers are working than ever Original
Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams are celebrating new data revealing record numbers of New Yorkers are employed. But the pair will have to work hard to ensure job growth continues in sectors like construction that are most beneficial to the city. Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock Back in March, Mayor Eric Adams celebrated record New York City employment. At first glance, there’s much to be pleased about. In 2023, New York City’s private employment stood at a record, surpassing the 2019 pre-pandemic peak.
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