New York City has elected socialist candidate of the Democratic Party Zohran Mamdani as its Mayor. Mamdani will be the first Muslim South Asian to govern the cosmopolitan metropolis that straddles the island of Manhattan and New York state’s coast. According to news network NBC Mamdani won 60.2% of the votes counted. Mamdani’s closest opponent – the former state governor Andrew Cuomo – conceded the election soon after. In his victory speech to rapturous supporters in Brooklyn Mamdani poked taunts at Cuomo and threw down the gauntlet to United States President Donald Trump.
More than two million people voted in this year’s general election, according to the New York Board of Elections. In 2021, the turnout was just under 1.15 million. Mr Mamdani ran on a progressive platform with ambitious policies that critics have suggested won’t be affordable, including state-run grocery shops, “fast and free” buses, and frozen rents on some housing. He has vowed to raise taxes on the rich to help pay for his plans, and called himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare” in August. “We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible,” he told supporters late on Tuesday. Mr Mamdani will be sworn in on New Year’s Day. The projected win comes after one of the most colourful races in years and looks set to have a profound effect on US national politics.
Mamdani may have won largely to a wave of disillusionment with the traditional political elite of New York local politics. Many of his campaign promises and policy proposals may resonate with the New York electorate as refreshing. However, he needs to ground these policies in reality. For example, “fast and free” buses and state-run grocery shops will still need the appropriate funding. The money for such funding will have to come from somewhere, taxing the rich alone on their gross net worth incomes won’t suffice. Mamdani should consider the idea of wealth regeneration instead of just wealth redistribution. Whether if many of Mamdani’s policies bear fruition will depend on how they are implemented. The reason for Mamdani’s win however is because the New York political and business establishment has proven itself out of touch with New Yorkers’ ordinary concerns. Mamdani will still have to undergo a transition from the previous Mayoral administration.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday announced an all-female team of co-chairs for his transition team, including former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan. The team of co-chairs includes Khan, former first deputy mayor Maria Torres-Springer, United Way of New York City head Grace Bonilla, Melanie Hartzog, who is a former deputy mayor for health and human services, and political consultant Elana Leopold. Khan is a prominent ally of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who was an aggressive antitrust regulator when she led the FTC during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. Her appointment is a signal that Mamdani, who has called for tax hikes on the wealthy to pay for policies intended to reduce the cost of living, will continue to push against what he refers to as the “oligarchy” when he becomes mayor on January 1.
Mamdani also previewed the announcement of other “leaders who will implement our agenda,” saying that “some of these people will have familiar names, others will not.”
It is interesting that Mamdani chose an all-female panel to co-chair his transition team. They would have certainly been chosen on merit. The inclusion of formidable women such as Khan, Melanie, Bonilla, and Herzog show a refreshing take on how New York City will be governed. Mamdani clearly shares links with the more engaged unorthodox left such as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Mamdani originally born in Uganda is possibly the most unorthodox foreign born mayor New York will ever have. His left wing inspired policies which are pro-working class are a break with tradition in the capitalist home turf of Wall Street. The rich may not be happy about the proposed tax increases but it remains to be seen how this newly acquired revenue will be used by the Mamdani mayoral administration to assist New York.
Municipal run groceries and buses you can ride for free may need a more significant amount of funding and Mamdani needs to have a sustainable plan to make it a reality. Mamdani needs to be cautious in his policies while supporting small business.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
