There is no budgetary problem that some good old socialist math can't fix, and that's exactly what New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doing as he brags about erasing the city's $12 billion deficit.
When we came into office, we uncovered a $12 billion budget deficit.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 12, 2026
Today, I’m proud to say we brought it down to zero.
We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people.
We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets and making historic investments in public… pic.twitter.com/TbNu6fhvjs
But guess what? That's not true. Mamdani not only inflated the deficit by $8 billion, he used a state bailout to "erase" the rest of that deficit.
That didn't stop other socialists from crowing about it, like Bernie Sanders.
Congratulations to Mayor Mamdani. He inherited a huge budget deficit, brought it down to zero, and still invested in childcare, housing and city infrastructure.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 12, 2026
When municipal governments stand with working families, not billionaires, there is nothing they cannot accomplish. https://t.co/SSJvrVMRWq
None of this is true.
Mamdani is lying to you. He didn't turn a $12B budget deficit to $0.
— Yogi (@Houseofyogi) May 13, 2026
Spark notes: He inflated the deficit by $8B compared to Adams, brought it back down, then closed the rest with one-off bailout funds from Kathy Hochul who's desperate for a win.
Funny thing is most of you…
This post is important, so here's what it says:
Spark notes: He inflated the deficit by $8B compared to Adams, brought it back down, then closed the rest with one-off bailout funds from Kathy Hochul who's desperate for a win.
Funny thing is most of you morons believe it. The entire Democratic party is cheering a lie while "cooking" the books.
New York City has been LEGALLY REQUIRED to balance its budget every single year since 1975. State law. The Financial Emergency Act. Passed after the city almost went bankrupt and Gerald Ford told them to drop dead.
Mamdani's own budget message brags this is the 47th consecutive balanced budget. Bloomberg balanced. de Blasio balanced. Adams balanced. Giuliani balanced.
Crediting Mamdani for balancing the budget is like crediting a taxi driver for stopping at a red light.Now the $12 billion. Adams left office with a projected FY27 gap of $4.69 billion.So where did the extra eight billion come from?
Mamdani's own team. They walked in and moved hidden spending back onto the books: rental assistance, shelter ops, special ed reimbursements, NYPD overtime. Legit cleanup work.
Then they ran to a podium and called it a deficit they inherited.
They printed the number. Then they took credit for printing the number.
How did they "close" it? Half came from Albany. Hochul wrote a check: $8 billion in state aid over two years.
THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE. HE DIDN'T FIX ANYTHING.
Mamdani's signature millionaire's tax? KILLED by Hochul.Corporate rate hike? KILLED.
Free buses he ran on? KILLED.CityFHEPS expansion he campaigned on? He's in court right now fighting it.
Then there's the pension trick.$1.64 billion of the "savings" comes from extending pension amortization from 2032 to 2037.
The Citizens Budget Commission called it "a pension gimmick" that "balances this budget on the backs of future New Yorkers."
William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance, said it "creates a debt that's more expensive than muni bonds."
And the kicker. The budget IS NOT ADOPTED. Council votes June 30. The state budget the whole thing depends on was still not enacted as of last week.
Out-year gaps under Mamdani's own numbers:
FY2028: $7.1 billion
FY2029: $8.5 billion
FY2030: $9.8 billion
The hole grew $5.4 billion in three months.
So the real headline. Hochul cut a check. Future workers eat the pension bill. The structural deficit is BIGGER than the day he walked in.
They didn't fix anything. They moved it.
The math: $4.69B real gap. $8B from Hochul. $1.64B pension can-kick. $25.9B in future gaps.
He didn't balance the books. But he's gambling your future and kicking the can down the road. So maybe stop celebrating. But what do I know. Good luck.
Simply incredible.
The first problem mayor, is rhetorical framing.
— A Gene Robinson (@AlBuffalo2nite) May 12, 2026
A “budget deficit brought down to zero” does not automatically mean a city became financially healthy. Governments can “balance” budgets through temporary federal aid, one time accounting shifts, borrowing, deferred obligations,…
It's all a lie.
You fixed the deficit by spending more money?
— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 12, 2026
That's what socialists do.
You got bailed out by New York State. You didn’t accomplish anything but waste other people’s money. That’s socialism for you.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) May 12, 2026
Every single time. By the mid 1920s, Soviet Russia was relying on American capitalism to keep the economy afloat.
He did it by receiving an $8 billion bailout from the state and deferring pensions for retired city workers.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 12, 2026
In true socialist fashion, he needed to be saved after running out of other peoples' money. https://t.co/Ctthb98qsr
We told you what happens to cities that defer pensions for retired workers. Those workers end up getting cheated out of a pension they were promised.
But that's what you get when you elect a socialist, and New York is going to learn the hard way.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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