OPINION:
It has been a wild ride for the first 100 days of America’s first Marxist mayor. Instead of criticizing him, we should be grateful that Mayor Zohran Mamdani hasn’t kept most of his campaign promises.
The mayor promised five city-run grocery stores, one for each of the five boroughs. The closest he has come is a pledge that at least one will open in East Harlem by the end of 2027, at a cost to taxpayers of $30 million. Wherever it’s located, it will put nearby private groceries and bodegas out of business.
Universal child care? Not happening. Fast and free buses? Still in the garage. Pity. They would have allowed the homeless to travel in style.
Mr. Mamdani promised to end his predecessor’s policy of clearing out homeless encampments. Then two back-to-back snowstorms hit. Instead of having police escort the homeless to shelters, he had city workers try to get them indoors in subfreezing temperatures. Most didn’t go, and at least 29 died as a result.
His honor promised to launch a $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety that would have had social workers respond to 911 calls for nonviolent situations. The scaled-back version has just two staffers. Does the mayor have any idea how quickly a nonviolent situation can turn violent?
One promise the mayor has kept is to staff his administration with fellow radicals.
The Anti-Defamation League reported that at least 20% of Mr. Mamdani’s 400-member transition team had “extremist” backgrounds. These people included Cat Almonte Da Costa, who resigned as head of appointments after a series of her antisemitic tweets surfaced.
Cea Weaver was chosen to head the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. She was immediately embroiled in controversy over a 2018 email that called for seizing private property, which she condemned as a “weapon of White supremacy.” Ms. Weaver now calls the posts “regretful.”
Besides his appointments, the mayor has hobnobbed with several nutjobs, such as activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for his anti-Israel protest activities, and streamer Hasan Piker, who once declared that “America deserved 9/11.”
None of this will restore confidence in the Big Apple. According to the city controller, New York faces a $2 billion deficit for fiscal year 2026 and a whopping $10.4 billion shortfall for fiscal year 2027. The mayor wants to cover that with a 9.5% property tax increase, which would drive more New Yorkers out of the city.
Mr. Mamdani’s ideological baggage threatens to sink the city under swelling waves of red ink.
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