New York City, the beating heart of American capitalism, is now on the brink of electing a self-declared socialist. Zohran Mamdani, the most progressive candidate in the New York City Mayoral race, just overtook former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, according to a recent poll by Emerson College Polling. With ranked-choice voting factored in, Mamdani is projected to win, with 52 percent of the votes, and Cuomo with 48 percent, putting him within striking distance of turning NYC into a socialist experiment. Lawmakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders have thrown their support behind him, giving him a leg up in the mayoral race. His candidacy began polling with only 1 percent of voters' support.
Zohran Mamdani is a 33-year-old New York State Assemblyman from Queens, whose mayoral platform is outrageous, something Americans should be horrified to witness in real time. A socialist, possibly rising to power in one of the most powerful cities in America. In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 7-to-1 and the primary is set to be decided on June 24th, the future of America’s largest city could be handed to a radical.
He promises a rent freeze for over 2 million tenants in rent-stabilized apartments to make New York City more affordable. He promises to build 200,000 more permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes over the next 10 years. Mamdani says he will also crack down on landlords. If a landlord refuses to perform a repair, the NYC will do it and send the landlord the bill. He says in the most extreme cases, the NYC government will step in and take control of their property.
Rather than invest in police to improve public safety, Mamdani promises to invest in citywide mental health programs and crisis response programs, as well as increasing the number of Transit Ambassadors. According to his mayoral platform, he wants to "expand evidence-based gun violence prevention programs, and increase funding to hate violence prevention programs by 800%." Other parts of his platform include city-run grocery stores to allegedly improve affordability, make public transit free, "fight corporate exploitation," bring no-cost child care, and pay for it all by taxing corporations and the top 1 percent.
This is not just naïve idealism anymore; it’s socialism in the flesh and blood. Mamdani’s vision is one where private property is conditional, police are sidelined in favor of empathetic social programs, the economy is subject to the whims of government ideologues, and the beautiful chaos of capitalism is strong-armed into complete and utter failure.
Mamdani isn’t proposing marginal reforms or temporary public safety nets. He is calling for a complete restructuring of New York City’s economy, justice system, and property rights. He wants to replace capitalism, the very system that made New York the global icon it is, with socialism, and NYC voters support it. How could we have gone so wrong?
The fact that Mamdani is now leading in the polls should terrify anyone who still believes in free markets and freedom. If elected, he could send a shockwave through progressive circles, empowering other so-called "democratic socialists." The conservative response to candidates like Mamdani and the ideology of "democratic socialism" has been weak. If the path to socialism is to be changed, it must begin soon.