New York City, once the seat of American capitalism, may soon fall to the allure of socialism. As of Tuesday night, the city's Democrats voted for a self-proclaimed democratic socialist as their candidate in the upcoming NYC mayoral election this November. Zohran Mamdani pushes policies that will end in economic ruin, selling voters a vision that has failed everywhere from Cuba to the Soviet Union. Mamdani has promised to make New York more affordable. How does he plan to do that? Through "unleash[ing] the public sector," price controls, government control of private property, and raising the minimum wage.
Let's go through his economic platform in detail and what more socialism would mean for New York City.
His first and most popular policy is a disastrous attempt to make housing more affordable. He promises to build 200,000 more units of 'rent-stabilized' homes over the next 10 years, and to initiate a rent freeze for the 2 million New Yorkers who already live in rent-stabilized homes. Mamdani believes that currently, the city government "works for the landlords," and has made clear he thinks landlords are an enemy of the people. Socialist class warfare in its flesh and blood. He vows to use "all available resources," ie, government, to bring down costs. The government is what got New York in trouble in the first place.
Rent-stabilized apartments are already in serious trouble in New York. According to The American Enterprise Institute and Mark Willis of the Furman Center on Real Estate at NYU, "owners of rent-stabilized properties in The Bronx are, on average, losing a stunning $120 per month on every apartment, such that 200,000 units, concentrated in that borough, are under 'severe distress.' " Shockingly, even if you freeze the rent, utilities and other regular costs incurred by landlords continue to increase. The lack of revenue made by landlords limits their ability to effectively care for and manage the property. So much so that "in its 2023 New York Housing and Vacancy Survey, the Census Bureau found that rent-regulated buildings had higher rates of rodents, leaks, mold, and heating breakdowns than market-rate units." These issues decrease the value of the properties, which discourages banks from giving out loans to help fund repairs. Property owner groups say that a rent freeze will crush them.
According to Alfredo Ortiz, the CEO of the Job Creators Network, a nonpartisan organization whose mission is to protect the 90 million people who depend on the success of small businesses:
Many landlords are not corporate giants but mom-and-pop small businesses operating on small margins after expenses such as taxes, mortgage payments, HOA fees, and maintenance costs are paid. Rent freezes will force them to sell to corporations or take their rentals off the market, worsening New York's housing crisis.
Mamdani blames the city’s deteriorating housing conditions on landlords simply refusing to make repairs. In reality, it’s New York’s own policies that have made maintenance almost financially impossible. His solution? More government. He wants the city to handle repairs directly, at the landlord’s expense. That means more bureaucracy, delayed fixes, and higher costs for landlords. And for repeat offenders, Mamdani says, "the City will decisively step in and take control of their properties. The worst landlords will be put out of business." In other words, government seizure of private property.
Already, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) can barely maintain its 177 properties, facing a multi-billion-dollar repair backlog. How exactly is placing more responsibility on a failed government entity going to help matters, Mamdani? Rather than help make New York more affordable, freezing rent will result in thousands of people living in decaying, neglected, vermin-infested, and simply unlivable buildings. The age-old lesson stands that government is always the problem, and rarely the solution.
One of Mamdani's other popular policies is a proposed $30 minimum wage, eclipsing California's minimum wage requirements. The hike from the current minimum wage of $16.50, would cripple small businesses, massively increase costs of goods, services and housing, and create massive unemployment issue. According to the New York Post and Tom Grech, the president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, "A $30 minimum wage is unsustainable. The average merchant can’t afford a minimum wage increase now. That would kill the bottom line. They’d have to cut employees.” 90% of merchants in Queens have 10 or fewer employees. The increased unemployment would generate more safety issues, too.
From Alfredo Ortiz:
Mamdani's proposed $30 an hour minimum wage will force low-margin small businesses to reduce job opportunities for young New Yorkers, often minorities, resulting in more crime and public disorder in the city. New Yorkers should reject Mamdani's same-old socialist approach that's been tried and failed countless times.
Mamdani's socialist victory is not a fluke; it is rather a telling sign of the policy direction that Democratic voters are willing to adopt, and how popular they are. It is no longer far-fetched; socialism has become politically viable in America. The legality of Mamdani’s proposals is almost beside the point. Pure democracy, even restrained by constitutional limits, risks turning popular support into a blunt instrument that will trample property rights and economic freedom.
This is a massive victory for a candidate who started this race unknown, with 1 percent support, and who beat Andrew Cuomo in the first round of voting by 7 points. Zohran Mamdani's victory has sent a dangerous message to other socialists across the country that their ideas are overwhelmingly popular and have been tested in an election. A socialist America is becoming more possible by the minute.