Photos: NYC.gov|YouTube Screenshots
NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani today released the Preliminary Citywide Racial
Equity Plan (REP) and the inaugural NYC True Cost of Living (TCOL) Measure, two
reports that together establish a new framework for how New York City measures affordability,
understands inequality and plans for a more equitable future.
The Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan is the first governmentwide racial equity
framework in the city’s history, outlining data-driven agency goals, strategies and indicators to
address long-standing disparities across public policy. The True Cost of Living Measure,
developed by the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice in partnership with the Urban
Institute and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, provides a clear picture of what New
Yorkers need to meet essential needs and achieve economic security.
Both reports were mandated by successful voter referendums in 2022. The Preliminary Citywide
Racial Equity Plan can be found here, and the True Cost of Living Measure can be found here.
Together, the two reports make clear that New York City’s affordability crisis is deeply tied to
its history of racial inequity. Patterns of disinvestment, exclusion from homeownership, unequal
access to health care and employment, and concentrated environmental burdens have shaped
who has resources, who faces the greatest costs and who remains most economically insecure
today.
“The True Cost of Living Measure offers an honest account of what it actually costs to live in
this city — and who is being left behind. It shows that this is not a crisis affecting a small
minority of New Yorkers. It is a crisis touching the vast majority of our city, in every borough
and every neighborhood,” said Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani. “But we know this crisis is
not felt equally. Black and Latino New Yorkers — who have been pushed out of this city for
decades — are bearing the brunt. The Preliminary Racial Equity Plan is where we begin to
reverse that pattern. These reports make one thing clear: we cannot tackle systemic racial
inequity without confronting the affordability crisis head-on, and we cannot solve the cost-of-
living crisis without dismantling systemic racial inequity.”
“Ensuring that New Yorkers can afford the actual costs of living and raising a family and that
workers get a fair shot is at the center of our economic justice agenda. We also know that there
cannot be true economic justice without dismantling structural racism and inequity,” said Deputy
Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su. “I’m proud to stand with Mayor Mamdani as we roll out these reports today. But the true impact of these reports will be felt far beyond the walls of this
building. Our success will be measured by the transformation of the lives of everyday New
Yorkers across the five boroughs.”
“Inequity has been embedded in the foundation of our city and nation since their inception;
dismantling it requires a collective effort,” said NYC Chief Equity Officer and NYC Mayor’s
Office of Equity & Racial Justice Commissioner Afua Atta-Mensah. “The NYC Preliminary
Citywide Racial Equity Plan reflects the city’s commitment to systemic transformation—turning
our values into actions. From housing and healthcare to education and infrastructure, every
agency plays a pivotal role in reshaping how government serves New Yorkers. This plan outlines
measurable goals and actionable strategies to advance racial equity, promote justice, and create
lasting change.”
“Our students are the youngest New Yorkers, and it is critical that we continue to examine how
their lives and futures will be affected by racial inequities,” said Schools Chancellor Kamar
Samuels. “When families cannot meet the true cost of living, the impact shows up in our
classrooms. That is why with programs like Universal 3K/Pre-K, and our career readiness
programs, we can provide students and their families with opportunities to be supported in our
school system and beyond.”
“This plan delivers on a key priority of the Mamdani administration and reflects the voices of
those who have called for its release. Inequities in access to food, health care, housing,
education, and economic opportunity persist in New York City, disproportionately affecting the
health of communities of color,” said NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin. “This
marks the beginning of a new chapter in our history, as we chart a path toward building a city
that reflects equity, justice, and opportunity for all.”
“Mayor Mamdani’s preliminary racial equity plan is a major step in our mission to not only make
New York a more just and equitable city for all, but a truly affordable one,” said SBS
Commissioner Kenny Minaya. “At SBS, we are proud leaders in equity. Our Jobs NYC Hiring
Halls are held in communities that face historically high unemployment, and our new NYC
Future Fund delivers flexible loans designed to meet the unique challenges faced by seasonal
small businesses. The new racial equity plan expands our ability to help even more New
Yorkers, and address longstanding disparities in economic opportunity more effectively.”
“The Racial Equity Plan and the True Cost of Living Measure reveal the deep inequalities that
continue to impact the affordability and livability of our city,” said Department of Youth and
Community Development (DYCD) Commissioner Sandra Escamilla Davies. “While these
findings underscore real challenges, they help us better understand what New Yorkers need to
thrive and guide us in directing resources to the communities that need them most. At DYCD, we
are committed to turning this insight into meaningful, targeted investments for young people,
families and neighborhoods across the five boroughs.”
“DOB is proud to support this effort, a framework that voters decisively called into fruition to
hold city government accountable for advancing racial equity and elevating community voices in
decision making. The True Cost of Living Measure makes clear that most New Yorkers cannot
afford to live in our city without support, with housing costs driving the burden for many
families across the five boroughs,” said Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani. “Under the
Mayor’s leadership, we are working to make it easier to build housing, build it safely, build it
efficiently and bring down costs so we can create the accessible and affordable city New Yorkers
deserve. This framework means that our mission to safeguard buildings, protect workers and the
public, and make our city safer will be carried out in a way that serves all communities.”
“In 2022, New Yorkers mandated that our government see them and their financial struggles
when they voted overwhelmingly for the City to annually calculate the true cost of living. They
understood that meaningful solutions to the cost-of-living crisis are only possible when
government officials can see and understand the myriad ways New Yorkers of all ages and
family types struggle to live in our city,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO, FPWA, and Chair,
New York City Racial Justice Commission. “We were made to wait four years, but in the first
100 days of the Mamdani Administration, the Mayor is releasing the measure and findings, and
now it’s up to policymakers, advocates, and every day New Yorkers to dig into the data and use
it to inform and address affordability in the city.”
“Our continued work to ensure every New Yorker is fed, cared for, has access to learning, and
feels safe is strengthened by the release of the first government-wide Racial Equity Plan,” said
Grace C. Bonilla, President and CEO, United Way of New York City. “For years,
communities across our city have been calling for this level of transparency, accountability, and
alignment—and this plan reflects a long-overdue step toward meeting that moment. At a time
when threats to SNAP and Medicaid risk deepening inequities, we know those impacts will fall
hardest on communities of color. It is our collective responsibility to act with urgency, and we
applaud Mayor Mamdani for moving this work forward.”
THE PRELIMINARY CITYWIDE RACIAL EQUITY PLAN
The Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan marks the first time any New York City
administration has required all major agencies to examine their work through a racial equity lens.
The plan sets goals across seven domains: Children, Youth, Older Adults and Families;
Economy; Housing and Preservation; Infrastructure and Environment; Health and Wellbeing;
Community Safety, Rights and Accountability; and Good Governance and Inclusive Decision-
Making.
From the redlining that locked generations of Black and immigrant New Yorkers out of
homeownership to highway construction that tore through Bronx communities in the 1950s and
1960s, the report confronts the City’s role in creating structural inequities.
Key data from the Preliminary Plan:
- 45 City agencies participated in the first governmentwide racial equity planning process.
- The median household net worth of white New Yorkers is approximately $276,900 —
nearly 15 times greater than that of Black New Yorkers, at $18,870. - Black New Yorkers have the lowest life expectancy of any racial or ethnic group at 76.1
years, compared with 81.8 years for white New Yorkers. - The plan proposes more than 200 agency-level goals and 600 indicators to track progress
over two-, four-, and 10-year timelines.
Key Goals from the Preliminary Racial Equity Plan:
- Economic Opportunity: Expand access to capital for underserved businesses, connect
New Yorkers in high-unemployment communities to quality jobs, and help young people
build generational wealth. - Housing: Apply a racial equity framework to all new housing proposals to ensure fair
geographic investment. - Health: Ensure that every New Yorker has access to a primary care physician by 2034
and reduce truck-related pollutants in communities of color that are disproportionately
affected by warehousing activity.
The Mamdani administration will gather public feedback before releasing a Final Citywide
Racial Equity Plan. Public comment is open for 30 days beginning today at nyc.gov/equity and
nyc.gov/racialequityplan. Additional in-person engagement opportunities will be announced in
the coming weeks.
THE TRUE COST OF LIVING MEASURE
The True Cost of Living measure calculates what families must earn to meet basic needs across
eight categories: housing, food, health care, child care, transportation, taxes, savings and other
essentials.
Unlike the federal poverty line, the TCOL reflects the realities of New York City’s economy and
accounts for differences in family size, composition and location. The inaugural report uses 2022
data as a baseline for future tracking.
Key Findings:
- 62% of New Yorkers — 5.04 million people — cannot meet their true cost of living,
compared with roughly 18% to 20% identified as poor under traditional measures. - The average annual resource gap is $39,603 per family.
- A median family with children needs $159,197 annually to achieve economic security
but has median resources of $124,007 — a gap of more than $35,000. - 73% of children in New York City — 1.22 million — live in families that cannot
meet their cost of living; in the Bronx, that figure rises to 87%. - New Yorkers with disabilities face the highest burden, with 92% unable to meet
their cost of living and an average resource gap of $76,178. - Hispanic New Yorkers face the highest TCOL rate at 77.6%, followed by Black New
Yorkers at 65.6% and Asian and Pacific Islander New Yorkers at 63.3%, compared with
43.7% for white New Yorkers. The gap is starkest in Manhattan, where Hispanic
residents face a TCOL rate of 85.3 percent compared to 32.9 percent for white residents. - Approximately 3.58 million New Yorkers earn above the federal poverty line but still
cannot meet their cost of living — a “missing middle” often largely invisible in traditional
data. - Government supports, including stabilized housing, Universal Pre-K/3-K, SNAP
and tax credits, reduce the TCOL rate by about 5 percentage points.
Today’s releases come as new research underscores the urgency of the crisis. Columbia
University’s Poverty Tracker, published this winter in partnership with Robin Hood, found that
nearly 2.2 million people, including 450,000 children, lived in poverty in 2024 — the highest
level in the study’s 10-year history, with widening racial disparities. Asian and Latino New
Yorkers were more than twice as likely to live in poverty as white New Yorkers, and Black New
Yorkers faced similarly elevated rates.
The affordability crisis in New York City extends far beyond those counted in official poverty
statistics. The TCOL will be updated annually to provide a clear, current accounting of what it
costs to live here.
The NYC True Cost of Living Measure was developed in partnership with the Urban Institute
using the ATTIS microsimulation model based on American Community Survey data. The
Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan was developed by the Mayor’s Office of Equity &
Racial Justice in collaboration with 45 city agencies.
