NYC mayoral candidate Michael Blake renewed his call for a rent freeze for stabilized units across the five boroughs, following the New York City Rent Guidelines Board’s preliminary vote on Wednesday to raise rents by up to 7.75%.
Blake told amNewYork he sees it as a necessary step to address the affordability crisis, while pledging aid for small property owners through targeted revenue streams like a vacancy tax.
“We can find ways to ensure that our small property owners are getting the support they need, whether it be through the vacant apartment tax or vacant commercial residential tax, or be taking some funding from reserves,” he said of the key issue raised by sitting Mayor Eric Adams who has not backed a rent freeze due the financial hit it may have on small land lords.
The Small Property Owners of New York criticized the RGB’s preliminary rent hikes Thursday, saying they ought to be higher to keep up with rising expenses such as taxes, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. RGB cited data shows that landlord operating costs for rent-stabilized buildings rose by 6.3% over the past year.
“We have to find ways that we’re helping New Yorkers with one of the two main expenses that they’re dealing with, housing and childcare, which is what is holding people back. And we can’t keep ignoring that,” said Blake.
With less than two months until the crowded Democratic mayoral primary, Michael Blake says he’s banking on late-deciding voters and a detailed policy agenda to propel his campaign past better-known rivals, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani who are running away in the polls.
Based on the most recent mayoral polling, Blake, a former state Assembly member from the Bronx and Obama administration aide, has a lot of ground to make up. The last two polls found his support around 1-3% among registered Democratic voters.
“A lot of this right now is based upon name recognition, you have one man and a former governor who is essentially 98% name recognition, and then you have a second who has had great organizing momentum, which you can’t ignore,” said Blake. “But at the end of the day, as there are debates and more forums and more opportunities to directly speak with voters, when people are paying attention, the choice that I’m laying out is that as the only person who has White House, State House and local experience as the only person who’s been a part of a team that defeated Donald Trump.”
“How I’m laying out a plan around addressing cost of living and paying for it, I do believe that in less than two months, you can make that kind of move to be able to win,” he added.
This run for mayor comes after stepping down from his Assembly seat to run for Congress, a race in which he came second to Rep. Ritchie Torres during the primary. He also placed 4th place in the Public Advocate special election of 2019.
Reflecting on those failed election bids, Blake contends this one is different. “You have to find ways to give choice and contrast at the end when people are paying attention.”
“Our job has to be not just telling people, I’m going to fight for you. It’s about explaining how you are helping them with this very specific issue around affordability,” he said. “And that’s what makes this one different. There’s tremendous fear that exists. During COVID, it was the fear of loss of life. Now it’s the fear of someone losing their job and their pension, and their benefits.”
Affordability and Trump
The Bronx native is running on a platform focused on affordability, public safety reform, and quality-of-life improvements. He proposes a guaranteed income program targeted at helping families struggling with housing and childcare, funded by the $2 billion in uncollected city fines, new taxes on vacant apartments and storefronts, and redirected city spending.
Throughout the campaign, many of the candidates running to oust Mayor Adams have criticized Hizzoner for his relationship with President Donald Trump. Last month, the federal indictment against Adams was dismissed after Trump’s DOJ pushed for the case’s dismissal. Mayor Adams has long maintained that there was no quid-pro-quo between his legal team and the Trump administration and that he only acts in the best interests of New Yorkers.
Blake said that if elected, he would confront the Trump administration with concrete legal and policy protections “that are currently not happening at all.” He said that every dollar the federal government cuts from services and programs in NYC, he would withhold NYC taxes sent to DC. “Dollar for dollar.”
“You have to be very direct and clear about how you’re going to hold this man accountable, and we’re just not doing that,” he said. “When you check a bully, he stands down.”
Blake said the city must be prepared for potential federal cuts by both generating new revenue and reallocating existing funds.. He also emphasized the need for proactive legal protections, such as banning ICE from schools and community spaces and preventing NYPD crackdowns on student protesters, to defend city residents from federal overreach.
A cornerstone of Blake’s affordability agenda is a guaranteed income program aimed at supporting families burdened by housing and childcare costs. If elected, he plans to declare a “True Cost of Living Emergency” and roll out a pilot program in economically vulnerable neighborhoods, with a public dashboard to track outcomes and ensure transparency and accountability.
Blake said to get the program off the ground, a True Cost of Living assessment will be carried out to calculate the real income a household needs to cover essential expenses like housing, food, childcare, and healthcare based on local costs and family size. The method is often touted as offering a more accurate alternative to federal poverty guidelines or Area Median Income.
“You can then have an opportunity to understand what is the dollar gap that exists for New Yorkers who are in these communities around the true cost of living to help them with child care and housing,” he said. “And my assessment has been that you have to provide some level of guaranteed income to help families with those two expenses when someone is in need.”
According to his campaign platform, an estimated 20,000 New Yorkers who are deemed eligible for the pilot program will receive $500 each towards housing and childcare expenses.
On housing, Blake calls for a new “Mitchell-Lama 2.0” plan to expand middle-income housing on city lands and remove barriers like credit score requirements from rental and mortgage applications.
“Doing that substantially gives a better chance for people to have an opportunity to pursue and keep their homes, and also to be able to get a chance,” he said. “If you pay your rent on time, that’s the best barometer of future history. It’s not, ‘did you miss a cell phone bill? ’
In the final weeks of the campaign, Blake says his focus will be on direct voter engagement.
“Every day, it’s about talking to more New Yorkers and reminding them: the people who had the chance to fix this city didn’t. Now it’s time to try something—and someone—new.”
The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 25.
