I watched
Mamdani's victory speech because I'd heard that the warm persona gave way to a harsher, more strident one. The speech certainly moved in that direction as it went along. Basically, he sounded like every politician entering office, believing he'll have more power than he has (NYC has 300,000 employees, its own deep state).
Some quotes that strike me as incoherent:
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"The working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and well-connected that power does not belong in their hands."
Being from a rich and privileged family, he is living proof of that.
"Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands... We will fight for you because we are you."
He implies that he is among NY's working class.
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"We have toppled a political dynasty... the politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few... Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change."
The only dynasty he could be referring to is Democratic Party mayors of NYC for the past twelve years. This suggests that he is a Democrat in name only.
- He thanks
"people who made this movement their own," citing Yemenis, Mexicans, Senegalese, Uzbeks, Trinidadians, and Ethiopians.
"There are many... who feared we would be condemned only to a future of less."
He built up a divisive "we" immigrants versus native citizens over the course of the speech, but later stated that his government will "help everyone."
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"Safety and justice... we will create a Department of Community Safety that tackles the mental-health and homelessness crises head on."
He has been both on and off the "defund the police" movement. He has called police racist. He has questioned, on video, the purpose of jails and prisons and suggested elimination of all misdemeanor charges in NYC. He eventually backed away from open antagonization of police. He opposes federal immigration law.
He has called violence a social construct and an artificial construct.
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"Excellence will become the expectation across government, not the exception."
Although Mamdani avoids the term "DEI" (which has fallen out of favor since Trump's election), he has pledged support for "equity."
See this article, which describes his plan to phase out "gifted and talented programs" in NYC schools, which critics say will trade merit for equity and bring the excellent down (equity is much easier to approach when favoring the lowest common denominator). DEI principles explicitly de-prioritize excellence.
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"We will refuse those who traffic in division and hate to pit us against one another."
But he is openly divisive and pitting us vs. them.
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"We believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down..."
Again, promoting some rather than all residents. When has the price of groceries ever gone down?
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"We will build a city that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism, where the more than one million Muslims know that they belong, not just within the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in islamophobia and win an election."
Like many, he wishes to divorce anti-Israel sentiment from anti-Jewish sentiment, which is perfectly legitimate, but typically fails in the current political climate. Article:
More than 1,000 US rabbis join letter raising concerns about Zohran Mamdani and Israel. He seems to suggest that Islam is not anti-Jewish. So, he is walking a metaphorical tightrope here.
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"This new age will be defined by a competence and a compassion that have too long been placed at odds with one another... on January 1st we will usher in a city government that helps everyone." And later,
"We will leave mediocrity in our past."
Again, how to do that and actively promote equity?
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"...billionaires... we refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore... we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears... And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power."
What are those conditions? It is commonly cited that the top 10% of taxpayers in NY state fund 70% of government spending due to existing progressive taxation. Increasing taxation of job creators is commonly criticized as anti-business, which must eventually shrink the job market. He has made "the cost of living crisis" the central plank of his platform, and talks a lot about prices. But, I have never heard him talk about creating jobs. Rather, as
CNN reported on November 4, "He has also proposed a tax on the city’s wealthiest residents and an increase in the city’s corporate tax rate to pay for his policy ideas..." By the same tax increases, he plans to offer free buses and free child care for all NYC children aged six weeks to five years. Critics says this is unaffordable, especially when
New York City needs state approval in order to increase local income taxes, and Gov. Kathy Hochul has been steadfast in her opposition to the prospect of increasing income taxes.
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"We will hold landlords to account, because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants."
Rent control has be observed to promote decay of buildings, lowering property values and living standards. There is much economic scholarship on this, much of which cites short-term gains for tenants, but long-term losses for property owners, who eventually stop renting. In extreme cases, cases of arson increase.
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"New York will remain a city of immigrants, built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
Again, us vs. them. Promoting some, not all.
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"Success... will be felt when New Yorkers open their newspapers in the morning and read headlines of success not scandal."
Almost sounds like he expects the support of a sympathetic press. Likely true if he is thinking about the New York Times.
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