The mayor marked the first day of his administration by building upon his campaign crusade to freeze the rent with a series of orders designed to address the housing crisis.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced three executive orders to address NYC’s housing crisis: revitalizing the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, creating the LIFT Task Force to accelerate housing development on city-owned land, and establishing the SPEED Task Force to streamline housing construction procedures.
Mamdani’s office released the following descriptions of the new task forces.
- LIFT Task Force (Land Inventory Fast Track) will leverage city-owned land to accelerate housing development, increase supply, and drive down costs. The task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1, 2026.
- The SPEED Task Force (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) will identify and remove bureaucratic and permitting barriers that drive up costs and slow housing construction and lease-up, making it more affordable to build and easier to access housing across New York City.
Now we’re talking. First day action, instead of excuses why it can’t be done on the first day after promising it for the last few years as a central point of their campaign.