Give New York Over to Mamdani
Democratic Socialists like Bernie Sanders claim their version of Socialism has never been tried. Let them have New York and show us how it really works. Who, or what, will they blame next?
Psalm 81:12: So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.
Romans 1:28: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. . .
The reactions to 33-year-old New York State Assemblyman and Ugandan-born Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic party nomination as New York’s mayor have been fascinating. He’s done amazingly well for someone who’s never held a job outside of government, the son of a Columbia University professor and a famous Bollywood director and producer.
They run from sheer panic and despair to wild enthusiasm from the far reaches of lefty progressivism, and talk of a presidential run in 3 years (he’s Constitutionally ineligible, but that never stops progressives who claim, like their political system, it’s never been “tested”). For those falling into the former category, they want former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), who lost decisively to Mamdani in June’s primary election despite outspending him, to stay off the ballot as an independent this fall. The same with perennial GOP candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The “Eric Adams isn’t that bad” caucus is beginning to form, referring to the unpopular and scandal-plagued Democratic incumbent who is running as an independent.
Somehow, I find it challenging to believe that “vote for the crook - it’s important” will work as well in New York as it did for disgraced Democratic ex-Gov. Edwin Edwards when he paired off against racist and neo-Nazi David Duke for Governor of Louisiana in 1991, under the Pelican State’s jungle primary system. The controversial Duke, who was the GOP “nominee” against incumbent Democratic US Senator J. Bennett Johnston a year earlier (the national GOP endorsed Johnston, who won handily), eked past incumbent GOP Gov. Buddy Roemer and US Rep. Clyde Holloway (R-LA) to make the runoff.
It worked for Edwards, but that’s Louisiana. Maybe it’s worth a try for Adams. Or Cuomo, for that matter.
Side note: US Senate Republicans led by Bob Dole and Don Nickles, President George H. W. Bush, and the Republican National Committee in 1990 had no problem endorsing Democrat Johnston in 1990 when a notorious racial supremacist emerged as their GOP “nominee.” How many Democrats are willing to endorse a Republican over a racist, anti-semitic Democrat?
On the other hand, they should all give it up. Let Mamdani, a Muslim who became a naturalized citizen about seven years ago, have his way with New York. I mean it.
I’ll confess that I’ve never liked New York City. Too big, too crowded, too expensive, too noisy, too liberal, too crime ridden, too smelly, too rude, and challenging to navigate. Oh, sure, I love Broadway shows, and some of the restaurants are legendary. I’ve enjoyed my visits to Wall Street, the United Nations (although I wouldn’t be upset if they relocated elsewhere), and the USS Intrepid Museum. Central Park is a gem, even on weekends when it’s very crowded. Times Square can be a feast for the eyes (watch your wallet, though), although it may not be suitable for young children. As we saw firsthand on 9/11, New York’s Police and Fire Departments are legendary. We cheered for them and the city’s resilience in the aftermath of that fateful day. We still do.
Never mind that Mamdani has pledged to “defund the police” (he reportedly has changed his mind now that he wants to be mayor). Perhaps Mamdani realizes now that he needs someone to arrest Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he has promised, if he sets foot in New York (Under American law, Mamdani has no right to arrest Netanyahu). And he’s pledged so much more. My friend John Heubusch summarizes Mamdani’s agenda here very nicely in a Substack post you should read:
Mamdani ran on making New York “more affordable.” Unless you’re a business, where he proposes to raise your tax rate to 11.5 percent from 9.5 percent to match what he claims New Jersey charges, never mind that the Garden State continues to shed more people and businesses than it’s attracting (it’s even worse for New York and Illinois).
Or, unless you’re income exceeds $1 million per year. Mamdani promises to raise your income taxes by a flat two percent. He may soon realize that people don’t just vote with ballots; they can vote with their feet, too. Additionally, individuals with an annual income of $1 million or more have various legal tax avoidance strategies at their disposal, including income deferral.
In addition to the list above, he also wants to provide free childcare. “If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free,” the late great PJ O’Rourke once said. And it doesn’t just apply to health care.
Mamdani embarrassed himself recently when he claimed to have found a $140 million fund that “subsidizes” corporate grocery stores in the city, promising to use $60-70 million of that to build five bread lines, government-run groceries. Except the fund doesn’t exist - the money he claims to have found was a city tax and regulatory break for those stores - the $140 million represents private investment.
Despite a long record of failure stretching from the former Soviet Union to Cuba and Venezuela, American “socialists” claim their version has never been tried. They claim those systems are “communist totalitarian” systems, and Sanders, in particular, points to Denmark as his model of paradise Socialism. Denmark and other Scandinavian countries indeed feature generous government programs paid for with high taxes. But that doesn’t make them “socialist.”
“I know that some people in the U.S. associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism,” former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a visit to the US in 2022. “Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear: Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy.” When Sanders, who famously honeymooned in the Soviet Union, was running for the Democratic nomination for President in 2016, he suggested Denmark was his idea of a Socialist paradise. Then-Danish Ambassador to the US, Lars Lose, told me personally and emphatically that “Denmark is not a Socialist country.” My employer at the time owned Kelsen, a premium confectionery in Copenhagen known for its Royal Dansk butter cookies (now owned by Ferrero). The Danish government did not control our means of production.
And Mamdani has made it clear: he wants the government to seize the means of production.
And yes, if you watched the video, you heard an endorsement of BDS - Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions on Israel over its “treatment” of Palestinians (never mind October 7, I guess). He’s refused to denounce the phrase, “globalize the intifada,” a call for violence and anti-semitism.
The charismatic Mamdani won his Democratic primary with 56 percent of the vote after the “ranked choice” ballots were reallocated from among the other ten candidates, including 44 percent in the first round of counting. That’s pretty close to a landslide; it’s undoubtedly a mandate. Most analyses suggest he won by attracting new, mostly younger, multiracial voters to the polls (Cuomo carried heavily black precincts, however), along with the vote of wealthy white liberals. He organized a heavy early turnout. “Working class” Democrats supported Cuomo, but they were outnumbered and outorganized. I guess they had real jobs to attend to, instead of attending pro-Hamas rallies on Columbia’s campus.
“Just spend time at the DMV and tell me if you want a government-run grocery store, as Mamdani is proposing.” Lucy Biggers for the Free Press, a former Ocasio-Cortez campaign aide.
The New York Times and Forbes Magazine reported that Mamdani won districts with median incomes over $100,000 by 13 points, while Cuomo won those with median incomes under $50,000 by 19 points. Wealth is no measure of wisdom or intelligence.
“If we allow 9.1% of registered voters to determine the future of New York City, then we deserve the city that we are going to get,” wrote billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman on his X account. Ackman heavily supported Cuomo.
It’s possible, of course, that Eric Adams could eke out a victory if he has a clear field against Mamdani and enough New Yorkers are terrified of what his victory might mean to the city. I don’t see it. With a bevy of primary endorsements from Sanders, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other congressional progressive “squad” members, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and scores of others, the die is cast in this heavily Democratic city, forty percent of whose residents are foreign-born.
At 3.2 million, New York City is home to more foreign-born residents than any other city in the world.
Politicians from New Jersey, Texas, Florida, and elsewhere are inviting New Yorkers to vote with their feet to those and other states. Billionaire grocery magnate John Catsimidas has threatened to close the city’s grocery stores that he owns. There will be those who don’t think Mamdani will be able to achieve any of his goals, but I’m not so sure about that. The Democratic establishment is terrified of their progressive base, now led in large part by the likely new Mayor of New York City.
Just look at Democrats in Congress. Do you see any of them standing up to their progressive base? Maybe Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), on occasion. I’ll wait for you to name others. Otherwise normal Democratic Members of Congress cower in fear of primary challenges from their left. I know - they’ve told me. Yes, I know, there’s evidence of that in the GOP as well from their MAGA base.
How should America respond? Let the progressives have it. Let ‘em run it their way, so long as the Trump Administration doesn’t allow itself to subsidize New York’s schemes. It’s possible that Mamdani’s threat to keep ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) out of the city could get him arrested and prosecuted, since it’s a crime to interfere with federal law enforcement. We’ll see. But in the meantime, it’s time for Americans to embrace their form of BDS when it comes to the dystopia about to fall on the Hudson River: boycott, divest, and sanction New York City.
Trump may have a new wall to build, and New Jersey may help pay for it.
Maybe they’ll come to their senses, but only after Mamdani runs out of other people’s money. In the meantime, to paraphrase H. L. Mencken, New York voters know what they want, and they deserve it good and hard.
Failure will never be their fault. They will explain away their failure blaming Trump!