New York real estate investors are panicking about Zohran Mamdani. Again.
They panicked about de Blasio. They panicked about Adams. Before that, they probably panicked about whoever came before Bloomberg (I was too young to care).
Here's what actually happened: Nothing.
New York real estate survived. Thrived, even. Because mayors don't control real estate fundamentals: supply, demand, global capital flows, and interest rates do.
But let me tell you what should worry you. It's not Mamdani's housing platform or his socialist rhetoric.
It's that in the greatest city in the world, home to real estate sharks, Wall Street titans, and more billionaires per capita than anywhere on Earth, this is the best we can do?
Let's Review Our Recent Leadership
Bill de Blasio (2014–2021)
Remember him? The 6'5" progressive who declared war on real estate, promised affordable housing, and then... did basically nothing except show up late to everything?
His legacy:
- Launched endless policy proposals that went nowhere
- Presided over a construction boom he had nothing to do with
- Currently having a very public affair with his former assistant, because apparently post-mayoral dignity is overrated
Real estate impact: Negligible. The market kept moving.
Eric Adams (2022–Present)
The "swagger mayor." The crypto bro. The guy who was supposed to bring back law and order.
His legacy so far:
- Got indicted on bribery charges involving Turkish Airlines upgrades. Not even creative corruption, just amateur-hour stuff.
- Presided over subway flooding so severe that nearly 200 stations were underwater during major storms, with service completely suspended on multiple lines. In 2024. In New York City.
- Didn't move the needle on crime, homelessness, or transit, the three things he campaigned on.
Real estate impact: Also negligible. Deals still closed. Buildings still sold. Investors kept investing.
Andrew Cuomo (The Almost-Comeback Kid)
Now we've got Cuomo trying to run again. The same guy who:
- Signed the 2019 Tenant Protection Act, which obliterated multifamily valuations overnight and sent small landlords scrambling for exits
- Got thrown out of office on sexual harassment complaints so credible he couldn't survive even in New York politics
And somehow, he's positioning himself as the "serious" candidate.
Zohran Mamdani (The Socialist Millionaire)
And then there's Mamdani. The Democratic Socialist. The "man of the people."
Who also happens to be rich and living in a rent-controlled apartment.
Let that sink in. The guy campaigning on housing justice is benefiting from the exact rent regulation system that creates scarcity and locks out working-class renters.
You can't make this up.
The National Mirror
This isn't just a New York problem. Look at the 2024 presidential race.
A country of 330 million people, home to some of the smartest, most capable, most innovative minds on the planet, produced Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris.
Trump, the populist chaos agent, won. Again. Against a candidate so unimpressive that even Democrats couldn't muster enthusiasm.
It wasn't that Trump was great. It's that the alternative was that bad.
Sound familiar?
Cuomo vs. Mamdani. Adams vs. literally anyone. The pattern repeats.
The Real Problem: Politics Is Toxic for Good People
Here's what should terrify you:
Good people don't go into politics anymore.
The smart hedge fund manager? Not interested. The successful real estate developer? Too risky. The competent executive? Why would they subject themselves to this?
Politics has become so toxic, so reputation-destroying, so financially unrewarding (relative to private sector success) that talented people avoid it entirely. Bill Ackman, for example, is screaming from the sidelines, why didn’t he throw in his hat?
What's left?
- Ideologues with nothing to lose
- Grifters looking for a platform
- Has-beens trying to rehab their image
- Rich kids playing revolution
That's the field. That's what we're choosing from.
In the greatest city in the world, where fortunes are made daily, where global capital flows through like water, where the smartest dealmakers on the planet operate, we can't produce a single mayoral candidate who's both competent and clean.
Why Real Estate Will Be Fine Anyway
Here's the good news, if you can call it that:
New York real estate doesn't really need good mayors.
It needs:
- Global capital inflows ✅ (still happening)
- Housing scarcity ✅
- Transit infrastructure ✅ (trains run most of the time)
- 8.3 million people who need somewhere to live ✅ (not going anywhere)
De Blasio didn't kill the market. Adams didn't save it. Mamdani won't destroy it. Cuomo won't rescue it.
The fundamentals don't care who's in Gracie Mansion.
But the Rot Is Real
Just because real estate survives doesn't mean we should be comfortable.
A city that can't attract competent leadership is a city with deeper problems:
- Brain drain at the top
- Policy paralysis at every level
- Governance by scandal and crisis management
We're not governing. We're just... continuing.
And that works, until it doesn't.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Mamdani isn't the problem. Cuomo isn't the solution. Adams was never the answer.
The problem is that we've made politics so unappealing that serious people won't touch it.
We get the leaders we tolerate. And right now, we're tolerating a clown car of corruption, incompetence, and hypocrisy because there's no alternative.
Real estate will survive. It always does.
But don't confuse survival with health.
New York isn't dying. It's just being run by people who wouldn't make it past the first round of interviews at any serious private company.
And that, not Mamdani's rent control plan, is what should worry you.
Bottom Line
Stop panicking about the mayoral race. The real crisis isn't who wins.
It's that this is who's running.
Your buildings will still cash flow. Your deals will still close. The market will adjust, like it always does.
But when the best we can produce is a disgraced governor, an indicted mayor, and a socialist millionaire in a rent-controlled apartment?
That's the story. That's the risk.
Not policy. Talent drain.
Welcome to New York. Real estate's fine. Everything else? We'll see.
