Full Compendium Details Ways Mamdani Administration Can Lower Costs, Hold Corporations Accountable, and Make Government Work to Lessen Affordability Crisis
June 18, 2026 | New York, NY — As federal protections for families continue to erode and the national affordability crisis heightens, The Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers today released their third round of policy proposals as part of their “Affordable NYC Now” initiative. This batch of proposals, Making Government Work, was written by NYC policy experts and details ways the Mamdani Administration can use authority the City already has to make government work for everyday New Yorkers, including generating new revenue, ending predatory debt collection, stopping deed theft, and expanding workers’ rights without new taxes and without waiting on Washington.
“For a generation, people have come to believe that government cannot make their lives easier —and for good reason. Corporations and the donor class have captured so many of the levers of government we have to actually benefit working families. New York City is pushing back on that notion by being overtly in favor of working people instead of the wealthy. These proposals are just a few more ways to that the Mamdani Administration can keep lowering costs and making sure every New Yorker gets a fair shot,” said Julie Margetta Morgan, President of The Century Foundation.
“While Washington makes it harder for families to get by every day, city government does not have to stand idly by. New York City families are getting squeezed from every direction, but there are real opportunities hiding in plain sight that the City can tap into. Whether it’s revamping existing enforcement or debt collection tactics to coming up with innovative mechanisms to address deed theft or funding shortfalls, the Affordable NYC Now proposals show how much the Mamdani Administration can deliver for its residents,” said Lorelei Salas, Senior Fellow at Protect Borrowers and Visiting Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation.
“Every time a New Yorker pays a fine that balloons because they couldn’t afford it, misses a benefit they never knew existed, or gets caught in a bureaucratic tangle trying to get city help, that’s a city failure. A city serious about affordability needs to be serious about making its own systems work for the people who need them most,” said Winston Berkman-Breen, Legal Director at Protect Borrowers.
The full compendium of policy proposals, which includes the previously published Lowering Costs and Holding Corporations Accountable proposals, is available here.
The proposals for making government work are listed below:
- Mapping Consumer Debt–Driven Financial Distress in New York City By Carolina Rodriguez, Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program (EDCAP) Community Service Society of New York
- Taxing Ill-Gotten Riches: Using the City’s Real Property Taxing Authority to End Deed Theft By Christopher Fasano and Joseph Rebella, The Legal Aid Society
- Expanding Access To Justice For Economically Marginalized And Vulnerable New York City Identity Theft Victims By Dora Galacatos, Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice, and Divya Subrahmanyam, CAMBA Legal Services, Inc.
- Establishing Fair Payment Plans for NYC Fines and Fees By Derrell Frazier, Fines & Fees Justice Center (FFJC)
- Public Enforcement of Workers’ Rights with Outside Counsel By Terri Gerstein, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, and Jason Solomon, National Institute for Workers Rights
- A Student-Centered Strategy to Improve Higher Education Access, Affordability, and Completion in New York City By Kirsten Keefe, The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)
- Unleashing Dormant Capital: A Centralized Rent Security Deposit Fund as Revenue Generation for New York City and Faster Rent Deposit Refunds for Tenants By Lorelei Salas, Protect Borrowers and The Century Foundation
Contributing authors of Affordable NYC Now’s policy proposals are affiliated with the following: American Economic Liberties Project, CAMBA Legal Services, Community Service Society of New York, Fines and Fees Justice Center, Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Legal Aid Society, Make the Road NY, Mobilization for Justice, National Institute for Workers Rights, Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, New York Legal Assistance Group, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, Small Business Majority, Solar One, The Institute for College Access and Success, UC Berkeley Law Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, and Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator.
Read the release for the first set of proposals and launch of the project here.
Read the release for the second set of proposals here.
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