New York City unexpectedly chooses socialist Mamdani as a mayor
di Valentina Cordero (Corrispondente da New York)
With his criticized affordable city idea he won by far over Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa
He is the youngest mayor since 1892. New York City chosed 34-years old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani from Queens to lead the reins of the largest city in the US. Born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, he migrated to NYC at the age of seven, and from being political unknown he became the first Muslim mayor, and the first one born in Africa.
“Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it,” he said during his acceptance speech on Tuesday night. “The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.”
Criticized for his unrealistic plans, he was able to drag the attention of many young people nationally thanks to his charisma and his presence on social media, with a heaviweight support from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. With 50.4% of the total votes, he was able to beat Andrew Cuomo (41.6%), who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa (7.1%), according to the Ascociated Press.
The new mayor made affordability the main motto of his campaign. His almost utopian plan for the city includes free buses, freezing rent for four years on the city’s one million rent-stabilized apartments. “Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on saving to shoppers. They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing,” ha promised.
The state assemblyman is aiming to increase the minimum wage up to $30 per hour by 2030 (currently it is $ 16.50 per hour). But not only that. Mamdani wants to implement freee childcare for children between the age of 6 weeks and 5 years-old.
Mamdani, who President Donald Trump has often labeled as a communist, would do all this by raising corporate tax rate to 11.5%, from the currently 7.25%. He also plans to add a 2% tax for those New Yorkers who make over one million a year. “For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” he said during his speech.
“Zohran Mamdani’s plan provides no relief for working families who take the subway, and unnecessary benefits to wealthy New Yorkers who take the bus and can afford the fare,” Cuomo wrote on X.
Another controversial proposal is the creation of five government subsidize grocery stores, one in each of the boroughs, in order to keep prices low. An idea heavily criticized because these stores will not survive due to supply issues and maintenance for long. Similar programs have been tried in other cities like Kansas City in Missouri and they have failed. “You might be able to stock it and open it on day one, but these stores have failed to remain open,” said to Fox News Digital Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley, vice president of academics affairs at The Fund of American Studies. “They are plagued by theft because grocery stores don’t have the same incentives that Walmart has for loss prevention.”
All those proposals could sound appealing. Who doesn’t want an affordable city? But in a metropoly like New York, the financial capital of the world, that remains a utopia.
