NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Defends His Nominee for Housing Role Over Past Comments About Rich People

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s pick for a housing position is concerning some city council members.

In June, the 34-year-old politician nominated the current head of the Department of City Planning’s housing division, John Mangin, for chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals, according to a Politico article published earlier this month. To be confirmed in the position, Mangin needs approval from half of the city council’s 51 members.

During a recent press conference, Council Speaker Julie Menin explained,

“Many council members are concerned about some of his prior statements,” noting, “I want to be clear: we are a pro-housing council,” according to an article published by the New York Post on Sunday, August 16.

Queens Councilwoman Shanel Thomas-Henry also voiced concern during the press conference: “I think a lot of the things he has been involved in, I personally see as a direct conflict with how the council sees its powers, and we are a pro-housing council.”

The statements council members were referring to appear to be from Mangin’s 2014 Stanford Law and Policy Review article, in which he wrote that “wealthy homeowner cartels” were preventing affordable housing “in high-cost, high-demand” areas.

“The housing advocacy community tends to argue for a ‘kludgy’ set of policies that can actually prevent new development and end up increasing housing prices,” he further penned.

However, Mamdani defended his pick in a statement to the New York Post on Sunday.

“We need to use every tool at our disposal to build a more affordable city. If confirmed as BSA chair, John Mangin would bring the experience, expertise and commitment to do just that,” City Hall spokesperson Casey Berkovitz remarked while spotlighting Mangin’s work investigating exclusionary policies that “keep affordable housing out of communities across the country.”

“We look forward to continuing our conversations with the City Council about his background and qualifications,” Berkovitz added.

At a Democratic conference meeting on Tuesday, August 4, over 12 Council members expressed concern about Mangin, and he later released a statement about his law review article following the scrutiny, Politico reported.

“I made the argument that progressives across the country must work to add housing in areas that have been particularly good at preventing it because of their disproportionate political capital,” Mangin said. “I’ve been gratified to see this view and broader commitment to fair housing gain traction in the years since I wrote the article.”