Thank you for the clarity, that helps. Here are my questions:
1) Why is Mandami a bad option?
2) I don't think you're giving enough weight to the "I care about you and your problems" v. "Fuck you, I do whatever I want because I'm Mayor" equation. BTW, there are already some bold plans in the works (see below)
3) Hey, it worked in the last election in Canada. Also, you have to fight off the barbarians at the gates before cleaning house in the palace,
4) I don't know anything about Mandami and I'm not a defender. He doesn't have to know every in and out of process and policy in order to affect change (there are staff people for that).
Back when I was the "dirt dog" for a Florida affordable housing company it took about two to three years from the first time you saw a site and put it under contract until Grand Opening -- maybe four years if there were issues. In NYC I see projects that are 10 years old all the time from when they went in for permit until groundbreaking. I see projects where the developer has broken ground and doesn't have the building drawings finished because of expiring entitlements.
Remember that in NYC every site has been built on, all have P&Z hurdles, and many are contaminated. That makes development a slow process.
I found this website that posts different scenarios of participants: https://www.racetothewh.com/nycmayorpolling