NYC Comptroller Mark Levine Talks Affordability

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Talks – NYC Comptroller Mark Levine Talks Affordability

Date: February 9, 2026
Host: Bloomberg
Guest: Mark Levine (NYC Comptroller)
Main Theme: New York City’s budget challenges, affordability crises, and policy solutions

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Overview

This episode dives deep into New York City’s unprecedented $12.6 billion budget gap, the critical fiscal challenges it faces, and paths forward, as discussed with NYC Comptroller Mark Levine. Topics include rising costs (especially housing vouchers), the strength of the city’s revenue streams, the debate over tax increases, investments in infrastructure, and the pressing need to boost housing and jobs. Levine’s pragmatic, occasionally wry perspective offers actionable insights for navigating this budget “challenge,” rather than a full-blown crisis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. New York City’s Budget Deficit: Scope & Causes

• Deficit Size & Urgency:
  • The city faces a $12.6 billion gap over two years, its biggest since the 2008 financial crisis. [00:57]
• Revenue Strengths:
  • Finance industry revenues and commercial real estate are performing exceptionally well, aiding tax receipts. [01:24], [04:12]
  • Sales tax and personal income tax collections are up, bolstered by a strong Wall Street bonus season. [04:12]
• Expenditure Growth:
  • Certain city programs are exhibiting unsustainable exponential growth, notably the local Section 8-style housing voucher program (CityFHEPS), growing 4% monthly—doubling every 18 months. [02:25]

2. Exploding Costs of Housing Assistance

• What is CityFHEPS?
  • NYC’s local housing voucher, similar to Section 8 but controlled at the city level. Provides rental assistance for those at risk of or experiencing homelessness. [02:25–03:00]
• Cost Trajectory:
  • “It’s growing by 4% a month… doubling every 18 months… it’ll be over $3 billion next year.”
    – Mark Levine, 02:25
• Eligibility Expansion & Budget Imbalance:
  • Qualification criteria have widened, driving higher participation and cost. The program is not properly budgeted for, causing massive shortfalls. [03:19], [03:39]

3. Policy Choices: Priorities, Trade-offs & Fiscal Discipline

• Maintaining Social Programs Amid Cuts:
  • There’s consensus on the need for more discipline and “efficiencies” in the city budget, with programs like CityFHEPS spotlighted for reform. [03:39], [06:33]
  • Levine stresses the potential for creative, phased approaches to essential services like childcare expansion, supported by state aid, without abandoning important social policies. [06:33]
• Affordability & Housing Supply:
  • A key solution to long-term affordability: Build more housing—as many as half a million new units—by unleashing private sector development alongside public action.
    “It’s not only about what the public sector can do. We need a partnership.”
    – Mark Levine, 06:33

4. Revenue Options and the Tax Debate

• Are Tax Hikes Inevitable?
  • While efficiency and growth are primary goals, Levine leaves “everything on the table”—including potential tax increases, though he frames them as just one possible tool among many. [05:28]
• Economic Growth is Essential:
  • A hiring freeze has paralyzed private sector job growth (except in home health care). Getting the jobs engine running is vital to boosting revenues and closing the gap. [04:12]
  • “I’m going to be a voice for getting jobs growing again because it’s going to drive tax revenue.”
    – Mark Levine, 04:12

5. The Political Frame: Exaggerating Crisis?

• Mayor’s Framing:
  • Mayor Zoran Mamdani has sounded public alarms; some critics believe he may be overstating the problem to justify tax hikes. [05:10]
• Levine’s Response:
  • “I’d rather have a mayor who embraces [the gap] so we can fix it than a mayor who tries to keep kicking the can down the road. I don’t use the word crisis. I think this is a challenge that we can solve with smart policy.”
    – Mark Levine, 05:28

6. Infrastructure & Regional Housing Solutions

• Broader View of Affordability:
  • Regional transportation upgrades (not just subway improvements, but also new tunnels and stations) are necessary to distribute housing density across the metro area, rather than just on Manhattan. [07:18]
• Levine’s Humor on Funding:
  • “I’d take [renaming Penn Station after Trump] if it got us the infrastructure money. And we could rename it after this guy’s out of office, whatever it takes.”
    – Mark Levine, 07:39
  • The need for every commuter rail station to be surrounded by new housing development is emphasized as a core strategy. [07:39]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fiscal Reality:

  • “We have a real gap and I’d rather have a mayor who embraces it so we can fix it than a mayor just tries to keep kicking the can down the road.”
    – Mark Levine, 05:28

• On Housing Program Growth:

  • “It’s growing by 4% a month. … Doubling every 18 months. … We project that it will be over $3 billion next year.”
    – Mark Levine, 02:25

• On Housing Affordability Solutions:

  • “We need a half million more units in New York City. That’s going to require in part unleashing private sector development as well… We need a partnership.”
    – Mark Levine, 06:33

• On Political Will:

  • “I don’t use the word crisis. I think this is a challenge that we can solve with smart policy.”
    – Mark Levine, 05:28

• On Regional Infrastructure Funding:

  • “I’d take that trade because we desperately need to invest in this infrastructure… we could also rename [Penn Station] after this guy’s out of office. Whatever it takes!”
    – Mark Levine, 07:39

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• NYC Budget Gap Overview: 00:57–01:24
• Cost Drivers: CityFHEPS Vouchers: 02:25–03:19
• Discussion on Social Program Trade-offs: 06:04–06:33
• Tax Increase Debate & Economic Growth: 04:12–05:28
• Regional Infrastructure & Housing: 07:18–07:39

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Summary Takeaway

Mark Levine presents a candid, pragmatic view of NYC’s budget problems—rooted in rapidly rising costs, especially for housing, but also in solvable policy and management issues. He advocates for balanced solutions: fostering economic growth, building more housing, seeking efficiencies, and considering tax hikes only as necessary. Above all, he frames the situation as a formidable “challenge, not a crisis”—and calls for regional partnerships, innovation, and clear-eyed political leadership to see the city through.

Transcript

[Bloomberg Host]

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[New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani]

City'S relationship with its wealthiest residents, most profitable corporations also has to change so that we can bring this city back to firm financial footing. You know, as the mayor, I am legally required to balance the budget of this fiscal year and the next. That is something we are fully going to do. In order to do so, we have to deal with these structural problems.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

That was New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani speaking with Bloomberg just a few weeks ago, warning of the city's $12.6 billion budget gap over the next two years. Mark Levine, he is New York City Comptroller. He joins us now on set to discuss. Mark, it's great to see you.

[Mark Levine]

Great to see both of you. Thank you.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

So let's start exactly there. The budget gap, I mean, when you take a look at how that possibly could be fixed, is there any hope of fixing that from the revenue side or is it going to be cutting costs?

[Mark Levine]

You know, our revenues are pretty good right now, partly because the finance industry is doing so well. But more than that, commercial real estate's doing the best it's been for 20 years. The problem is that we have some expenses that are growing very fast that have not been accounted for in the budget. And when we took a look at the books, what we've seen is a very big gap, which is something we haven't seen in New York City said at this scale since the financial crisis. How are we going to solve it? It's going to require help on many fronts. We're going to definitely need to find efficiencies we're going to within city government. We're going to need some help from Albany. I hope I'll be going there Wednesday to plead that case. I think we can get through this, but this is beyond what we have seen in a budget cycle in probably 15 years.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Let's talk about what you're seeing when it comes to costs because taking a look at some of them, it seems like there is sources that are constantly under budgeted, if you want to call it that over time for uniform officers, for example, comes to mind. But where are you seeing the biggest growth when it comes to that side of the ledger?

[Mark Levine]

Yeah. So we have an equivalent of a Section 8 housing voucher in New York City. It's got a weird acronym. It's called City phps. We're one of the only places in the country that has a local version of this great program. Guys, it's growing by 4% a month. And I think your audience understands exponentials. And so it's doubling every 18 months. And we project that it will be over $3 billion next year.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

I'm back up. Section 8, to me, means something different than. I'm sure, what you're talking. Because I think of MASH and Corporal Klinger.

[Mark Levine]

Right.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

Oh, you're talking about hous voucher money that we pay people to afford to be able to live here.

[Mark Levine]

Yeah. This is a voucher you can use to rent housing in a private building. Right. So not public housing. You can go to a home you can find throughout New York City. Section 8, a limited supply from the federal government. We have a local version. Great program. It's growing at an astounding pace.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

What we just give that. We give out more and more, you're saying.

[Mark Levine]

Yes, we've expanded the qualifications. It's designed for people who are in homeless shelters or in danger of homelessness to help them get out of the shelter.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

We want them to get out York City. I mean, why have. In the most expensive city in America, Why are we putting people up here? Why not move them to places that are cheaper to live?

[Mark Levine]

Well, we want them to be New Yorkers.

[Karen Moscow]

This is.

[Mark Levine]

They're part of our city and our community, and they have family ties here and more. And we can do this, but we're not budgeting for it. And it's blown a hole in our budget that is billions of dollars. Reining in or updating programs like that is going to be key to getting out of this hole.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Well, you mentioned, for example, the performance of Wall Street. You think about how well Wall street did, how well the stock market did over the past year. Would you expect that to shrink the deficit when we get those updated numbers? Or some of the costs that you're talking about that are growing exponentially? Going to just have that come out in the wall?

[Mark Levine]

Yeah, I think it will. Look, New York City's economy, on the whole, is doing very well. Also, real estate taxes are producing more revenue than we expected. Sales tax, again, personal income tax, but. And we do expect to further revise those numbers because the bonus season we had, one Wall street person told me it's the second best they've seen in their entire career this year for December of 2025. But even factoring that in, we're going to be left with a hole. And so while we want to keep the economy going, want to grow New York City's economy, that is the ultimate solution to our budget problems. And I'm going to be a voice for that. As comptroller, we have a complete freeze on hiring in New York and the private sector in New York. In New York City, with the except exception of home health care aids, it's all come to a screeching halt over the past year. We've got to get that going as well. So I'm going to be a voice for getting jobs growing again because it's going to drive tax revenue. That won't be enough. We're also going to have to have some efficiencies in government and a little help from Albany.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

There is the line of thinking out there that Mermaidani might be exaggerating the scope of the budget problems to really make his case for tax hike, which is popular with his base of supporters and then very unpopular with people outside his base. I mean, what do you make of some of that?

[Mark Levine]

We have a real gap and I'd rather have a mayor who embraces it so we can fix it than a mayor just tries to keep kicking the can down the road. So I think this is good news. Look, I think that we've got to get our fiscal house in order. I do think we need more help from Albany. Everything needs to be on the table, I would think potentially including tax increases. But you hear, you hear me talk about some other priorities. This is what I'm pushing for. I think this is solvable. This is, I don't use the word crisis. I think this is a challenge that we can solve with smart policy.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

I just wonder, you know, even if you agree that, you know, pre K should be free and in a good wealthy society it probably should be. Even if you agree that local transportation should be free, which is I guess, a nice to have, even if you want to continue to pass out an ever growing at 4% a month amount of housing vouchers for people live here, isn't it when you're in a budget deficit like this, time to stop just giving away so much money.

[Mark Levine]

Look, we are definitely going to need a little more discipline in New York City's budget. You've heard me talk about one of the programs and there's many others. That doesn't mean we can't do bold things. And in the case of childcare, which I really do think New York City needs, I think every place should have it. The governor put about a billion on the table to help us start on that. And, and we can begin to phase in a program like that. It's going to take several years just building it out logistically, but this is going to be a tougher budget and I think we can confront that, still try to be creative on addressing affordability and more. Look, some of what we need to do is not about the budget. We got to build more housing. We need a half million more units in New York City. That's going to require in part unleashing private sector development as well. It's not only about what the public sector can do. We need a partnership.

[Audience Member or Panelist]

Right. And we also need probably better transportation from outside in so that we don't build all that housing on this tiny island. Right. There was just and has been a court case about building this new tunnel project. Have you thought about just naming Penn Station or the Empire State Building after President Trump and trying to get money like that?

[Mark Levine]

I'm going to be honest, I would take that trade because we desperately need to invest in this infrastructure and we could also rename it after this guy's out of office, whatever it takes. We need regional transportation infrastructure and every single commuter train stop should have residential density around it. That would also help alleviate the housing affordability crisis within the five boroughs of New York City.

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