Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted President Donald Trump on Monday at Gracie Mansion, where they discussed funding for counterterrorism security and the planned Sunnyside Yard housing development, along with immigration enforcement.
In a wide-ranging meeting convened by the mayor while the president was in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly, the pair focused on the city’s success — despite their differences.
“Each time the president and I speak, it is about the same topics: how to improve the lives of New Yorkers and how to use the power of government to take on the cost of living crisis, to grow our economy and to build a better, stronger New York,” Mamdani said as he stood alongside Trump in the backyard of Gracie Mansion after their meeting.
“I have said time and again that I will work with anyone, no matter what party they belong to, no matter how much we may disagree on other topics,” the mayor said.
MORE: Follow The City Reporter’s Coverage of the Trump Administration and New York City
The president praised New York’s democratic socialist mayor, saying he’s “off to a start” toward being a “great” mayor. They acknowledged their differences, particularly over immigration.
During their meeting, which was also attended by the mayor’s and president’s chiefs of staff, Trump agreed to ramp up consultations about funding for Sunnyside Yard, which could bring up to 12,000 new homes built over a 190-acre Queens railyard.
“We’ve agreed to set up a new level of that conversation between our housing and operations team at City Hall and the White House team,” Mamdani said.
The project, Trump said, is “going to need a lot of federal approvals and probably some federal money to do it. But it’s always been a great location.”
Mamdani Talks Haitians, Temporary Protected Status
Following a question by The City Reporter, the president said the two leaders also discussed his administration’s decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from 13 countries, including Haiti. New York state is home to an estimated 40,000 Haitian TPS holders.
Trump did not commit to any changes to the revocation, but noted “the mayor feels very strongly about it, and he did bring it up.”
Mamdani said TPS was a “priority for me, a priority for our city,” adding that he’d “made the case about just how critical this is to so many New Yorkers, and how I hear about this not just from those New Yorkers, not just from their families but also from their pastors, from developers, from executives in healthcare and hospitality.”
He said he spoke directly about Haitian New Yorkers, saying Trump’s power over their status “can either deliver or deny stability in their lives and the lives of those who love them.”
Friction-Free
Monday marked the third in-person meeting between Trump and Mamdani, a former fierce critic of the president before he was elected to lead New York City.
The first two meetings, held shortly after Mamdani was elected last November and again in February, both took place at the Oval Office in the White House.
The president praised the mayor-elect after their first meeting, saying he felt New York City — the hometown Trump rejected after changing his residency to Florida — was in good hands with Mamdani.
“I would feel very very comfortable being in New York and much more so after the meeting,” Trump said at the time. “The better he does, the happier I am.”
Trump said on Monday that he even had a hand in convincing Mamdani to move into the 227-year-old official mayoral residence with his wife, Rama Duwaji, during their first meeting following his election.
The mayor, he said, was “maybe having some doubts about moving in because it is a little bit on the luxurious side, and I said, ‘When you’re the mayor, you have to live there.’”
Trump, who last week banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, remarked on the large number of reporters covering the Gracie Mansion get-together.
Our nonprofit newsroom relies on donations from readers to sustain our local reporting and keep it free for all New Yorkers. Donate to THE CITY today.
The post Mamdani and Trump Advance Giant Housing Plan in Friendly Gracie Mansion Meeting appeared first on The City Reporter.
