Roger L. Green,
former NYS Assembly Member

More than 62 percent of African Diasporic voters supported Zorhan Mamdani’s historic election as the 111th Mayor of New York City. That mandate reflects a deep yearning for transformative leadership willing to confront the anti-democratic and inequitable housing policies that have driven more than 600000 African heritage New Yorkers out of the city in just six years.

This mass exodus is not the product of chance. It is the predictable result of lawmakers prioritizing the political interests and material appetites of wealthy real estate developers over the housing security of the working families who sustain our civic, economic, and cultural infrastructure.

The Coalition for a Democratic and Just New York asserts that the city’s traditional housing framework has been built around incentivizing high end development for the affluent often those buoyed by inherited generational wealth while systematically disregarding the needs of working class and working poor New Yorkers.

Restrictive zoning, low housing turnover, and a citywide rent burden that forces many to spend more than 40 percent of their income on shelter have collectively fueled a displacement crisis that has hollowed out Black communities across the five boroughs. When this is compounded by a century long legacy of racialized economic inequality, from redlining to speculative gentrification, the result is a resegregated city that benefits only the wealthy.

This moment demands a mayor who will embrace bold democratic reforms to reverse these trends. To that end, the Coalition proposes a transformative housing and land use agenda designed to restore affordability, dignity, and self-determination for African Diasporic New Yorkers and all working families across the city.

1. Impose an Immediate Moratorium on the Sale of In Rem Properties
   No more city owned properties should be transferred to private developers or predatory equity funds. These properties must be preserved as public assets that strengthen local communities rather than enrich investors.
   
2. Leverage New York City Public Deposits to Enforce Equitable Banking Practices
   City government holds enormous financial leverage. By strategically engaging the Community Reinvestment Act, the administration can compel banks to relinquish Real Estate Owned properties and short sales, enabling fair and affordable purchase opportunities for young families in historically disinvested neighborhoods.
   
3. Establish a Citywide Community Land and Conservation Trust
   This trust aligned with the boundaries of New York City Community Boards would democratize land use, distribute property through a public benefit corporation such as the New York City Housing Trust Fund, and empower decentralized Community Development Corporations.
   This is structural change, not symbolic reform.
   
4. Expand Affordable Homeownership and Generational Wealth
   Revitalize Limited Equity Cooperatives such as Mitchell Lama and convert expiring Low Income Housing Tax Credit properties into permanently affordable homeownership. This is the clearest pathway to building generational wealth for Black families and working class New Yorkers.
   
5. Democratize NYCHA Through Resident Centered Governance
   More than 528000 residents living in 2411 buildings depend on NYCHA. A reformed Neighborhood Model one that employs and stations skilled NYCHA residents including plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and more within their own developments would dismantle the top down bureaucratic culture that has long failed public housing communities.
   This is economic self determination in action. It builds respect, accountability, and responsive governance where residents become co architects of their housing future rather than passive recipients of substandard services that sink under the quicksand of social welfare colonialism.
   An enhanced Neighborhood Model that enforces CM Build will deconstruct entrenched bureaucratic barriers by empowering resident leaders and local property managers with democratic self governance. NYCHA will finally foster economic self determination, democratic accountability, and mutual respect between staff and residents.
   
6. Build Workforce Housing for Essential Public Service Workers
   The COVID 19 pandemic exposed the urgent need for affordable housing near hospitals, schools, and community institutions. When healthcare workers, teachers, childcare professionals, and other first responders are displaced far from their workplaces, the quality of our public services deteriorates.
   We urge the Mamdani administration to champion an Employer Assisted Housing Partnership that ensures essential workers can live in the communities they serve strengthening public safety, continuity of care, and community resilience.

A Moral Imperative for Black New Yorkers
This is not merely a policy agenda. It is a moral obligation. Affordable housing and livable communities are fundamental rights that will never be secured by passive citizenship. On October 14 2025, at a public forum convened by our coalition, Mayor-elect Mamdani committed to having his transition team meet with community representatives and resident leaders to continue advancing these urgent proposals.
We must hold him to that promise.
To the readers of Our Time Press. We urge you to engage in this democratic process, and make your voice heard in shaping a fairer housing future for our communities.
African Diasporic New Yorkers have long been at the forefront of every chapter in the struggle for justice. Today, that struggle calls us to organize, advocate, and agitate outside the traditional centers of political power rooted in local self governance and the spirit of associative democracy.
As the great Freedom Fighter Frederick Douglass warned during another era of crisis
“Agitate, agitate, agitate.”
Prof. Roger L. Green