Mamdani’s Cost of Living ‘Crisis’ Is Simply a Cover for Government Excess

Never let a crisis go to waste.

That’s the idea behind Mayor Mamdani’s latest ploy, a racial-equity report and “true cost of living” measure that supposedly shows that 62% of New Yorkers — about 5 million people — can’t make ends meet.

The plan is simple: Set the bar unreasonably high, declare a sweeping crisis and use that to justify a bigger, more intrusive government.

Yes, life here is expensive, for lots of reasons.

Rent is brutal and getting worse: Manhattan’s median rents now exceed $5,000.

Child care is crushing, partly because center operators can’t find adequate facility space.

Public schools don’t offer a good enough education to keep families in the city. But instead of fixing those cost drivers by increasing the supply of housing and reforming public schools, City Hall is redefining the problem in a way that makes massive intervention look inevitable