To enact his ambitious agenda to make the city more affordable, [Mamdani] would need to strike a better relationship with his former colleagues in Albany than Walker did.

Two of the three key planks in his platform — making buses free to ride and providing universal free child care — would require action from the governor and state legislature, including raising taxes by billions of dollars. (The third, freezing the rent on rent-stabilized apartments, can be accomplished at the city level.)

His five years in the legislature may serve him well in navigating Albany politics. He’s built alliances with legislators, especially fellow progressives, and seen the state capitol’s byzantine budget process up close.

“The budget process is almost a living, breathing thing,” said Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a frequent ally of Mamdani’s. “There’s a long line of mayors who thought they knew how to handle state government who have failed at doing so … I think he knows how to do it better than other mayors who have come before.”

The biggest thing Mamdani needs from Albany is money. His plan rests on the state’s willingness to raise $9 billion in taxes on corporations and high-earners.

Gianaris noted that in recent years, both houses of the legislature have supported raising taxes on the wealthy. “So there’s two out of the three players already on board with the broad strokes of that proposal,” he said.

Governor Kathy Hochul, on the other hand, has firmly opposed tax increases, recently saying, “I don’t want to lose any more people to Palm Beach.”

Not all legislators are on board, either.

“I’m not a fan of any of his tax proposals,” Weprin said. “I think they’re unrealistic and would have a very tough time getting approval in Albany.”

Mamdani will also need Albany’s backing to enact his promise to make buses fast and free. The Metropolitan Transit Authority is controlled by the state, not the city; its yearlong experiment with fare-free buses, approved in the 2023 state budget, was one of Mamdani’s signature legislative victories. But his colleagues declined to renew the program in 2024, and MTA chair Janno Lieber has been critical of the effort since it ended.

“We tried [Mamdani’s] idea of free buses on different lines,” he told radio host Brian Lehrer in April. “Most of the additional ridership [that] was identified cannibalized other lines. You’re taking people who are paying on other lines, and they were just getting a free ride.”

Lieber has also said that the free buses sent the “wrong message” at a time when the MTA has prioritized cracking down on fare evasion. He has said he prefers to reduce fares for low-income people through a more targeted approach.