Michael Goodwin: Dems agree NYC is too expensive and voters cant afford them being in charge

If there is a single point of agreement among all the Democrats running for mayor, it’s that New York is too damn expensive.They uniformly call it an “affordability crisis” and pledge to do something about it if elected.They are largely correct — the cost of living in New York has become absurdly high.Although part of the trend grew out of the inflation sparked by massive spending by federal, state and local governments during the COVID era, there is also a long history of Gotham being one of most expensive places in the nation to live.A study shows that, in comparison to the national average, food prices in the five boroughs are about 22% higher, while housing is 278% more expensive.The United Way finds that basic costs for city households have risen twice as fast as the median income and estimates that about half of them need help from the government, friends or family just to make ends meet.As Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani recently told The New York Times, “There are far too many New Yorkers who do not know if they will be able to call themselves that next year, who do not know if they will be able to afford their rent, or their child care, their groceries, or even their MetroCard.”True to his socialist affiliations, Mamdani is promising the longest list of freebies, but his rivals have all joined the spree.

Even Andrew Cuomo, often regarded as the most centrist of the bunch and the leader according to polls, is no shrinking violet in the giveaway games.The candidates’ promises to address the problem sound very nice — until you realize that nearly everything they are offering would ultimately drive the sky-high cost of living even higher.Already that burden is one of the top reasons why New York City and state lead America in losing residents to lower-cost jurisdictions.Congestion pricing is the latest example of how and why the cost of living here keeps rising.If the candidates all want to raise prices even higher, they should support a join...