Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Friday said Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani needs to reach out to a “broader electorate” to help earn his pivotal endorsement in the November general election.
The Democrat House minority leader praised Mamdani for his thumping primary win over ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saying he “out-organized” his opponents by focusing on the crucial issue of affordability.
But Jeffries, who represents central Brooklyn, said the progressive Queens assemblyman still needs to flesh out some of his proposals.
“He’s going to have to demonstrate to a broader electorate, including in many of the neighborhoods that I represent in Brooklyn, that his ideas can actually be put into reality,” Jeffries said. “That’s the conversation he’s having with me and with community leaders.”
Jeffries refused to back Mamdani on the issue of the rent-stabilized apartment he lives in, which Cuomo has sought to make political hay over.
“It’s a legitimate issue that has been raised, and the Mamdani campaign is gonna have to address it,” Jeffries told CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Jeffries also failed to correct Sorkin when the anchor repeatedly falsely claimed Mamdani lives in a “rent-controlled apartment.”
Rent control and rent stabilization are two very different programs, as any New York lawmaker should know.
Just over 20,000 apartments are covered by rent control, which only applies to tenants who have lived in the same apartment since 1971 and typically come with bargain basement rents. They account for less than 1 percent of New York City apartments.
Rent stabilization, on the other hand, includes about 1 million units in the five boroughs. Rents are generally a bit lower than market rates and the program mostly restricts landlords from raising rents more than a certain amount each time the lease is renewed.
There are no income restrictions for tenants in rent stabilized apartments, meaning Mamdani isn’t bending any rules by living in a $2,300-a-month Astoria pad with his wife. He makes $143,000 a year as a state assemblyman.
Jeffries did not make an endorsement in the mayoral primary.
He held what he called a “candid and constructive” face-to-face meeting with Mamdani last month and said the two planned to follow up with more meetings with fellow members of Congress and community leaders, especially in low-income and working class Brooklyn neighborhoods.
“That meeting is still being put together,” Jeffries said.
Mamdani faces Cuomo and incumbent Eric Adams, both of whom are running as independents, along with Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election.
He has racked up several endorsements of mainstream city Democratic leaders since defeating Cuomo him to become the party’s standard-bearer.
But Jeffries and the state’s two other top Democrats, Gov. Hochul and Sen. Chuck Schumer, have so far declined to back him.
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