Brooklyn Democrats gathered to support Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, as the Democratic nominee for mayor stopped by Flatbush to attack the policies of President Donald Trump and former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
During his "Five Boroughs Against Trump" tour this week, Mamdani said the president's funding cuts, which include slashing about 40% of the $6.3 billion that was earmarked for housing and homelessness programs that serve New Yorkers, was "horrific." Trump's policies are decimating housing voucher access, public housing support, home repair programs and street outreach to the homeless, he said.
“It is all built on a vision of instability for working people,” Mamdani said while at Flatbush Gardens.
Mamdani was joined by a coalition of Brooklyn elected officials, some progressive and some moderate, that included Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; Assemblymembers Monique Chandler-Waterman, Robert Carroll, Emily Gallagher, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and Marcela Mitaynes; and Council Members Chi Ossé, Justin Brannan, Shahana Hanif, Farah Louis, Crystal Hudson and Rita Joseph.
Party leaders, including Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries have yet to endorse Mamdani, who decisively won the June primary against Cuomo.
“Every dollar that Trump takes from the poor and gives to the wealthy actively puts everyday New Yorkers at risk of losing their homes and so much more. He's willing to leave our most vulnerable populations without the basic essentials to live,” said Hudson.
Mamdani also knocked Cuomo's new housing policy released on Tuesday, which suggested renters to pay at least 30% percent of their income on rent to qualify for rent-stabilized apartment.
He said such a policy would force tenants to be rent-burdened, and directly attack working and middle class New Yorkers’ ability to access affordable housing.
Cuomo is using rent-stabilized apartments as "a political pawn" and the policy "works backwards, from a place of petty vindictiveness," with no regard to who it harms in the process, he said.
Mamdani also highlighted the parallels between Trump and Cuomo, which included overseeing a loss of 66,000 rent stabilized apartments and a spike in homelessness of about 16,000 within three years.
"While housing experts are ringing the alarm, Andrew Cuomo is ringing Donald Trump's cell," Mamdani said, referring to a Aug. 6 New York Times article that described a call between the president and the former governor. "And he's calling because he wants advice on how to stop a campaign that won the most votes in New York City primary history."
"He does not care that to do so requires him to conspire with someone who is attacking the very fabric of the city," Mamdani said.
We are living in an era of attacks; attacks on justice, on fairness and on due process, said Bichotte Hermelyn, who previously backed Cuomo as the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
“Our strength lies in standing together, fighting for justice and ensuring that every New Yorker feels safe, valued and at home," she added.
