Mayor Mamdani’s landslide win in The Bronx was powered by belief, not just in his promises about affordability, but in the collective hopes of a borough that has too often been sidelined. With nearly 30% of our neighbors living under the poverty line, trust is not given lightly here. Mamdani clearly earned it by tapping into aspirations and fears.
Now in his first 100 days as Mayor, and with budgetary deliberations for the city on the horizon in the months ahead, Mamdani has committed his administration to rebuild New York around affordability. In order to succeed, that vision should begin in the Bronx, where systemic inequities run deepest and the need is greatest.
Among seniors, the poverty rate in The Bronx is the highest in the state. Our housing crisis has been present for decades and has become a daily emergency. Schools are overcrowded, public health is crumbling, and too many households remain shut out of the digital economy. These are not new problems. They are the byproduct of generations of neglect and short-term thinking that has left the nation’s poorest congressional district to fend for itself.
But The Bronx has never been defined by hardship. It’s creative, resilient, and fueled by a spirit that refuses to quit—a borough undergoing rebirth as once-marginalized groups claim power and break barriers.
Housing, which Mayor Mamdani deftly campaigned on, is where that blueprint must begin. Bronx rents continue to skyrocket, and longtime residents are being pushed out by gentrification and speculative development.
Additionally, thousands of Bronx families living in NYCHA developments are coping with broken elevators, leaks, mold, and decades of disinvestment, as part of a systemwide capital backlog that NYCHA now estimates at roughly $78 billion in needed repairs and upgrades.
In his first month in office, the Mayor has sent an encouraging signal by elevating tenant protection and treating housing as an emergency, but the true test will be whether those first moves translate into concrete relief for Bronx renters. The Mayor should make good on his campaign’s promise by moving past previous leaders’ hollow talk of “affordable” units that aren’t affordable to working families.
That means building and preserving more rent-stabilized and public housing units, ensuring community oversight in rezoning decisions, and holding developers accountable for projects that protect our historic neighborhoods. All of this comports with the mayor’s platform and will change lives that need it here.
Public health is another crisis demanding priority. Our borough is at the epicenter of two overlapping emergencies: addiction and obesity-related illness. Both are fueled by lack of access to quality 360-degree healthcare and support services, and to healthy, affordable food.
By expanding clinic funding, safeguarding public hospital budgets, and investing directly in prevention and recovery services, the next Mayor can reimagine the Bronx as a leader in community health innovation. Additionally, Mayor Mamdani’s promise for city-run, affordable grocery stores can be a proverbial oasis in the Bronx-wide food desert––once a pilot program gets off the ground, a store (make it two) in our borough would be a welcome sight.
Mayor Mamdani should also make it his mission to close the growing digital divide, an issue that does not get nearly enough attention. According to research from The Bronx Community Foundation, The Bronx trails all other boroughs in broadband access, device ownership, and digital literacy—a fail point for an economy rapidly moving online. In fact, a third of Bronx residents lack a computer at home at all. By investing in broadband access, device grants, and digital workforce training, we can close these gaps forever and prepare our schoolkids for success in tomorrow’s economy.
A just and truly revolutionary rebuilding of our city means reforming how our city listens and responds to those with lived experience: from the grassroots up, not the top down. The Bronx, led by young people, community organizations, and others who are ready for change, is already setting its own table. That’s why the Mayor’s rumored appointment of a borough liaison within his office is an encouraging sign that he will meet us there.
Mayor Mamdani also won by showing up here. Many don’t. In fact, he started his winning “free buses” pilot here even before he even thought of running citywide and kicking it all off on Fordham Road. Resonantly for us, just before election day, Mamdani returned to the pavement where this movement and his moment was born with a viral video over a year ago to the day.
He was greeted by Bronx residents who not only recognized him, but saw the potential of his mayoralty. It was a full-circle moment and a reminder of who brought him to City Hall.
At the start of this incredible new chapter in our borough and our city’s history, we are rooting for our new Mayor to put The Bronx, too long accustomed to coming in last, squarely first.
LaToya Williams-Belfort is the Executive Director of the Bronx Community Foundation.
