During his campaign to become the new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani had five key agenda points that he was pushing.
One of the major freebies he suggested was free transportation in the city, but he has thus far been unable to lock in the funding that would be needed to pay for it.
Mamdani was recently confronted about that dilemma, admitting that he did not have the funding, then he turned into a DJ, spinning his response, which wound up being a complete non-answer to the question.
Atop the incoming mayor's agenda is a rent freeze and the creation of publicly owned grocery stores. He may get his rent freeze, as this has been done in New York City many times, but the idea of city-owned grocery stores has been tried repeatedly, usually resulting in complete and utter failure.
Mamdani is also promoting free childcare, which is something he may be able to pull off. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has agreed to help fund that program.
Affordable housing is also a key issue, with the mayor-to-be floating a plan for the city to buy housing as it goes up for sale, and more or less turn New York City into a big commune, or at least that is my impression from what I have read of his agenda. Such a scenario would crush the real estate market in the city.
Finally, there is the proposed free bus program, which would require about $700 million in funding, and as of right now, there is no money available for such a scheme.
As noted above, Hochul is all-in on providing free childcare for residents of the city, and I don’t think there will be a lot of pushback on a program like that, but giving away free transportation is an entirely different matter.
When Gov. Hochul was asked about funding the program, she responded, “I cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways.”
She continued, “But can we find a path to make it more affordable for people who need help? Of course we can.”
This is the problem with politicians in that they make big promises without having all their ducks in a row, which is why we see so much turnover regarding ideology. Promises are made, they cannot be kept, and voters just keep looking for a new alternative in someone who will deliver.
During a recent interview, Mamdani was asked where he would obtain the $700 million to make his bus plan a reality, and he suggested raising taxes on businesses and people making more than $1 million a year, a notion on which Hochul has pushed back.
When he was told that Hochul is not going to help him find the money, and was asked what his next plan would be, Mamdani responded, “The most important fact is that we fund it, not the question of how we do it, but that we do it.”
Well, actually, it is a question of how, because if you don’t know the how, then there is no program. We can all put lofty dreams up on the board, but when you cannot fund them and literally have no plan to do so, well, that plan will fail. This is going to be a complete and utter disaster.
I really wish I could have a more positive attitude about New York City's future, but we just cannot afford to have any aspect of Mamdani's plans be successful, or this socialist movement will fail. I hate to root against my fellow Americans, but New York City residents voted to put Mamdani in office, and now they are going to suffer the consequences of doing so.
