Robert Hornak
Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail. com and @roberthornak on X.
The NYC Mayoral race is all but officially over, with socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani looking like a shoo-in unless some- thing incredibly dramatic happens to change the race’s dynamic. With November 2026 just over a year away, the race for Governor is now officially beginning.
One thing we can take away from the mayoral race is that affordability is a top concern for New Yorkers both throughout the city and state. It’s the main issue that will elect Mamdani after he was the only candidate to even try to substantially address these concerns, even though his ideas are unlikely to make the city any more affordable for struggling working class residents.
Now the attention will turn to Kathy Hochul and her plans to make NYS more affordable. One of the biggest issues across the state is the cost of energy. Costs have exploded, as the state has tried to replace more reliable and affordable sources like natural gas and nuclear with expensive and unreliable wind and solar.
Alarm bells were rung earlier this year by the pro-alternative energy New York Affordable Clean Power Alliance, warning that massive energy shortfalls are in the near future if we keep (unnecessarily) pushing to eliminate traditional sources of energy. In response, Hochul reacted by announcing a plan for a new nuclear facility to finally replace the supply lost when Indian Point was pointlessly closed.
Additionally, the New York Heat Act, the one big effort in 2025 by green new deal advocates, was watered down to remove the most egregious aspects of the bill, eliminating a mandatory transition plan away from natural gas and other plans that would only drive costs or taxes higher for most New Yorkers.
In the end, the only thing the greens got was an end to the 100- foot rule, where utility companies no longer need to pay to install gas lines in new buildings within 100 feet of an existing line. This, of course, only passes the cost on to the developer, who will then in- corporate that cost into the selling or rental prices of these new units. Yet another cost added to constructing new, affordable housing in NYC.
Hochul will really need to step it up and offer more plans to lower the cost of energy, Real plans, not like the empty promises of the green advocates who keep pushing wind and solar and higher costs.
More nuclear plants would be the ideal way to go. Nuclear is the most reliable and cost effective renewable, and the only renewable that is scalable to the needs we will have as we become increasingly dependent on electricity for everything in our lives, from our lights and refrigerators, to our computers, cell phones, and now exploding needs for AI and cryptocurrency.
But the biggest looming threat to affordability is Local Law 97, the bill recently passed by the City Council to great applause from the green advocates, that will force all co-op, condo and apartment buildings to convert their current gas powered heating and boiler systems to less efficient and far more expensive electric-based systems and at a cost of millions to convert each building.
Co-ops and condos go first, with conversion completed by 2030 or face crushing fines. Ultimately, every home and building owner will be forced to make the change, crashing the value of condos and co-ops that will now have to pass the cost along to unit owners in the form of double, or more, of their monthly maintenance fee. Owners of rental buildings will have to pass the cost along as capital improvement or face potential bankruptcy.
Mamdani has already promised to aggressively enforce LL97, with no consideration to extend the timeline. This will make any promise to freeze rents insignificant, plus the additional cost to residents who will need to vacate their homes for possibly months while the conversion is made will impose massive costs on just about everyone, eventually.
As this comes into focus next year, it will be part of the challenge Hochul will face in her reelection. Bow to the green advocates or do what the people really need and oppose any plans that will drive up the cost of living.
