The two friendly meetings between President Donald Trump and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani are welcome developments, but when it comes to Mamdani’s statement that he has discussed the “Sunnyside Yards” affordable housing proposal with Trump, who liked it, other such projects in New York City are a cautionary tale with regard to billionaire real estate developers and “affordable” housing.

Take the now eight-year-old plan for “renovation” of older apartments in the Federal housing projects known as Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea Houses in the Chelsea neighborhood on New York’s West Side. Back in 2018, organized tenants in those projects thought they were taking a rare degree of control over a process of renovation. With “no demolition” and “no added surrounding areas” as their rules, the apartments would be renovated, and the families moved back in, with costs roughly $300 million across the 24 buildings of the two projects.

The contract for the work, which was no-bid because of tax laws governing “distressed areas,” was awarded for $366 million to The Related Company, a $60 billion firm headed by a billionaire nephew of Max Fisher. By 2022, without any reopening of that contract for bidding, “the [New York City] Physical Needs Assessment for Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea was shy of a billion dollars, yet the project’s price tag slapped on by Related in their PR materials had already reached $1.5 billion,” according to a lengthy and detailed article by one of the tenants’ attorneys. Now, the same New York City Housing Authority contract, still never reopened, is claimed by Related to be for $1.9 billion—and still clearly rising.