In millions of New York City apartments, a familiar winter ritual is underway. As steam clangs through ancient pipes, rooms become stiflingly hot. The radiator, controlled not by the resident but by a single boiler in the basement, has one setting: on.
In response, tenants engage in a collective, absurd act of inefficiency. They throw their windows wide open, letting precious heat—and money—billow out into the freezing air. Some even turn on their air conditioners, running two opposing systems at once just to achieve a comfortable temperature.
This is the daily reality of a “one-size-fits-all” system. It’s what happens when a single, centralized decision is made on behalf of millions, and it has become a potent metaphor for the high-stakes battle over New York City’s future.
As the city welcomes the new mayoral administration of Zohran Mamdani, it finds itself caught between two conflicting, top-down visions, both of which are criticized for applying a single solution to a complex city. The debate is no longer if the city will adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach, but which one it will be.
The “Steam Heat” of “City of Yes”
For the past year, critics of the “City of Yes” housing plan have used this exact analogy. The plan, which applies a broad upzoning to all five boroughs to encourage housing growth, is seen by its opponents as the “steam heat” approach to development.
The Argument: Critics, often from lower-density neighborhoods in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx, argue that their communities are the equivalent of the resident with the window open. They contend that a single, city-wide zoning rule that allows 3-5 story apartment buildings everywhere fails to account for individual neighborhood character, infrastructure limits, and local needs.
The Fear: They fear their neighborhoods will be “overheated” by overdevelopment, forced to accept a policy that, while perhaps necessary for one part of the city, feels like a “disaster” for their own. They are, in effect, asking, “Why can’t we have our own thermostat?”
The Public Boiler: Mamdani’s New Mandate
Now, the newly-elected socialist mayor brings his own powerful, centralized vision, moving the debate from private development to public control. Mamdani’s platform is, in itself, a different kind of “one-size-fits-all” solution.
Proposals for city-wide rent freezes, universal public childcare, and city-owned grocery stores are all, by definition, centralized decisions. They are designed to set a single, high standard of living and affordability for all New Yorkers.
This approach simply changes who controls the boiler. Instead of a market-driven plan, it’s a public-sector-driven one. Critics of this approach raise the same fundamental question: What happens when the city-set price for groceries doesn’t work for a small bodega, or a city-wide rent freeze disincentivizes repairs in a specific building?
The Other Side of the Analogy: The Legal Right to Heat
Proponents of both plans argue that this analogy misses the most important point. Why does steam heat exist in the first place? It exists to fulfill New York’s “Heat Law”—a legal mandate ensuring that no landlord can leave a tenant in the cold.
The Counter-Argument: Supporters of “City of Yes” and Mamdani’s public programs argue that New York City is, in fact, “freezing.” Decades of hyper-local control (giving every neighborhood its own “thermostat”) has resulted in a crippling housing shortage, rampant inequality, and failing services.
The Justification: In this view, a powerful, centralized system is the only way to guarantee the legal and moral minimums. They argue that “City of Yes” is the “Heat Law” for housing, and Mamdani’s policies are the “Heat Law” for social services. They are willing to accept some “overheating” and inefficiency as a necessary cost to ensure that everyone is warm.
This is the central tension of modern New York. The city is defined by its deep-seated desire for individual choice and neighborhood identity, yet it is crippled by crises that seem to demand massive, collective action.
Residents are tired of being uncomfortable. But whether the city is suffering from a lack of heat or a lack of control is the question that will define the next four years.