When it comes to politics and economics, a surprisingly large number of voters either cannot recognize charlatans, or they suffer from amnesia. That is, all too often, many of these people fail to understand and remember the basis for success and failure in public policy, and they get drawn to the siren call of alluring but “risky” new candidates at election time.
How is it possible that New York City, America’s leading city of capitalism, finance, and business, could elect a mayoral candidate, Zhoran Mamdani, who, while known to identify as a democratic socialist, has an easily verifiable hardcore Marxist background? Mamdani’s academic life was immersed in Marxism, embracing the analytical framework of class struggle, oppression, labor, and power structures and historic materialism. His studies and work also included Leninist perspectives on colonialism and post-colonialism. In addition to Marx and Lenin, Mamdani embraced leftist figures such as Frantz Fanon and Antonio Gramsci, whose ideas on cultural hegemony, colonialism, and underdevelopment are aligned with Marxist critiques.
And if being a divisive Marxist ideologue were not enough to be a disqualifier for mayor of New York City, consider the other major shaper of Mamdani’s character and orientation for leadership. By his own words, Mamdani identifies as a practicing Shia Muslim. Between the Shia and the more numerous Sunni Muslims, the former are more ideologically militant and intolerant. The entire American system, from city government up to state and federal government, has no place for intolerance. New Yorkers are foolish to take a chance with a divisive charlatan, especially one whose persona has two streaks of likely intolerance.
For those who would discount Mamdani’s ideological academic past, one need only focus on his recent and current public policy extremism:
In 2020, he created a movement, “#DefundtheNYPD”, claiming that “community-based responses to domestic violence” were preferable to intervention by law enforcement. With the 2025 election coming, Mamdani backtracked—apologizing for calling the NYPD “racist,” and acknowledging law enforcement officers have a role to play in reducing violent crime.
Mamdani proposes raising the minimum wage to $30/hour by 2030, which would crush small businesses in the service sector, such as restaurants. Wages, like all other economic cost variables, are best determined by competitive forces of the free market.
Another plank in his campaign platform is to create city-owned socialized grocery stores.
Mamdani proposes a 2% tax surcharge on income of all New York City earners making over $1 million annually. This "millionaire tax" would increase the city's top personal income tax rate from about 3.876% to 5.876%, all for the purpose of supporting socialist initiatives like free city buses, universal childcare, a rent freeze on stabilized units, and city-owned grocery stores. This comes on top of New York state’s high marginal income tax rate.
New York has already been suffering a declining tax base because of capital flight. Many high-income earners in New York already own second properties in Florida, a state with no city or state income tax. Becoming a resident of Florida requires residency of just 183 days a year. Working remotely has become the norm for many since the Covid pandemic, and Mamdani's victory will surely result in more capital flight and financial duress for New York City.
Twelve percent of New York City’s population is Jewish, which is the largest concentration of Jewish people of any city or country outside of Israel. Every New Yorker—Jewish and non-Jewish—should know that Mamdani's hostility to Israel goes beyond his longstanding support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement directed against Israel. Just a few months ago—June 2025—he defended the movement and slogan, “globalize the intifada,” which is a call for violence against Jews and Israel.
Numerous X posts document Mamdani’s ties to “radical Islamist groups,” such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and alleged affiliations with pro-jihad figures, with at least one citing Mamdani’s defense of convicted Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh, who was deported for immigration fraud related to a 1969 bombing. Mamdani has also pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City.
In short, New York City cannot afford to take a chance with Zohran Mamdani as mayor. The likelihood of a Mamdani victory on November 4, 2025, is heightened by the fact that the other two candidates, Andrew Cuomo—running as an Independent, and the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, are likely to split the opposition vote to Mamdani, with Cuomo polling significantly higher than Sliwa. For the good of New York and America, this unusual time calls for extraordinary politics wherein Sliwa withdraws from the race and directs his supporters to vote for Cuomo.