New Article by Professor Kate Brown – New York’s Next Mayor Wants Affordable Housing. Just Don’t Ask Where He’ll Put It.

Professor Kate Brown has published a new article in the Mother Jones Daily about addressing the housing crisis in New York City, the Elizabeth Street Garden, and the struggle between building affordable housing and meeting the climate stresses of today.

“New York’s next mayor has made housing the centerpiece of his political identity, promising to unleash the public sector to build affordable homes that the private market has failed to build. Affordable housing is a major problem all over the country, but especially in New York. A controversy over one garden spotlights a broader policy question—whether urban planners can deliver both housing and ecological health in an era of climate stress. Or will New York and other American cities continue to trade one public good for another?

It’s easy to see both sides. The city’s affordable housing shortage has reached crisis proportions—more than 91,133 people sleep in the main New York City shelter system, and 25 percent of renters spend more than half their income on housing. Yet green space, too, has shifted from luxury to necessity. Trees and gardens cool the air, clean the lungs, and soothe the mind. Environmental justice advocates rightly insist that a healthy city requires both roofs and roots. But as real estate prices soar, New York’s leaders are pressed into what feels like an unforgiving binary—homes or habitats, people or plants.”

You can read the full article here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/mamdani-elizabeth-street-garden-new-york-affordable-housing-just-dont-ask-where-he-will-put-it/