Crain’s asked the nine leading candidates in the June Democratic primary for mayor of New York City to answer questions about their stances on the city’s biggest issues. Below are the answers by Whitney Tilson, a former hedge-fund manager and longtime Democratic donor.
1. What’s your single biggest idea that you’d implement as mayor?
I am the only candidate in this race focusing on economic growth. I will fight the anti-business attitudes in the city and reduce the red tape at City Hall to grow our economy by 50% over the next decade. We must expand the pie, not just fight over how to slice it up.
2. Is there a next neighborhood that should be rezoned to allow for more housing? If so, which one?
Brooklyn’s Kensington section should be rezoned to allow 3- to 6-story buildings near subway stations.
3. What promises are you making to increase the availability of affordable housing? How will you make sure they come to fruition given current high interest rates and backlogs in the city housing department that finances affordable projects?
The City of Yes initiative was a step in the right direction, but the City Council watered it down so much that it’s only expected to create 80,000 new units in the next 15 years. We need to build at least 500,000 units in the next decade. The primary way to achieve this is via private sector investment so, in addition to easing zoning restrictions, we must accelerate the permitting and approval process. I will cut unnecessary regulations and ensure relevant city departments are properly staffed. I will also expand public-private partnerships like the infill development underway at the NYCHA Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses.
Lastly, I will push Albany to amend the 2019 rent-regulation law. I support closing the loopholes that let owners sharply increase rents after limited capital improvements, but the law went too far, making it economically unfeasible for owners to do renovations needed to bring rent-stabilized apartments back on the market, resulting in tens of thousands of vacancies.
4. Should the city take steps to limit member deference vetoes for land-use projects at the City Council?
Yes. Local input matters, but we need to streamline zoning and permitting to address the housing crisis. Citywide rezonings are effective because they spread the political cost among council members.
5. What’s one specific thing the city should do to take advantage of artificial intelligence to boost the city’s economy or workforce — or limit AI’s influence?
Artificial intelligence would improve the NYPD’s ability to assemble data, document trends and prevent crimes. I envision using AI to determine how to allocate police resources, marshal data to investigate and solve crimes, and prioritize responses to emergency calls. At the same time, AI must only assist human work, and we must adopt rules to prevent abuses of AI that violate civil liberties.
6. Should the city add to its budget reserves this year to brace against potential federal cuts? If so, by how much?
Absolutely. With federal cuts — and a likely recession — looming, we need to be tightening our belts and building up our rainy-day fund. City Hall has become corrupt and bloated. My team and I will identify billions of dollars in cost savings.
7. Would you consider raising property taxes if the city faces severe fiscal problems?
No. We are already one of the highest-tax cities, so I will not raise taxes in any way, shape or form.
8. Should the city tackle e-bike safety problems by changing criminal enforcement, building bike infrastructure, or both?
I would mandate throttle limits of 20 miles per hour on all e-bikes, and require riders to be registered and insured, putting the onus on the companies employing them to comply. As part of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s new quality-of-life initiative, I support officers stopping and ticketing reckless bike riders. Additionally, I commit to adding 50 miles of protected bike lanes in my first year in office.
9. Is the city ready to implement the Local Law 97 climate policy, whose first compliance reports were due May 1? If not, should the city ease requirements, do more to help landlords comply, or something else?
Local Law 97 needs to be suspended and fixed. The intent was to focus on commercial buildings, but instead it will impose large new costs on coops and condos, mostly occupied by working-class New Yorkers. At a time when our city faces an historic housing crisis, this is unacceptable. We need to be reducing, not raising, housing costs.
10. Should the city deploy more police into the subway system, fewer, or the same number?
I support the current increased levels of police on the subway and the greater enforcement of quality-of-life crimes. This contributed to an 18% decrease in subway crime in the first quarter of 2025.
11. Police officers stopped and frisked more pedestrians in 2024 than they had in any year since 2014, according to NYPD data. Would you continue that policy?
I oppose the widespread, unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk. Used very narrowly, however, it can be an effective policing tool to reduce crime. The practice is still down 96% from its 2011 peak.
12. Should the city expand its use of involuntary commitments for people with serious mental illness? If so, what steps would the city need to take to expand their use, and if not, why not?
I support Gov. Kathy Hochul’s insistence on strengthening the state’s involuntary commitment power as part of this year’s budget. Too many of the severely mentally ill people living on our streets need help, but either cannot or will not seek it out. Our failure to compel treatment has sometimes been deadly. A handful of people cycling in and out of the system are responsible for committing some of the most heinous acts of violence in public spaces.
I will also enforce a ban on sleeping outdoors, which will help us identify and provide services to members of the unsheltered homeless population who are a danger to themselves and to others.
But if we are going to make it easier to compel long-term institutionalization — and I believe we must — we must scale up the number and size of long-term psychiatric facilities. It is a travesty that as cases of severe mental illness rose across New York State in the past decade, the number of psychiatric beds declined by more than 10%.
