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Zohran Mamdani wins the New York mayoral race
- Agreed3750 1y agoGreat! Now time to get to work and see how hard it is to enact his policies.
- slater 1y agoSo happy to see this. Nice to see the wins pointing Virginia back to reality coming in, too!
- toomuchtodo 1y agoThe tide is turning but there’s much work ahead before midterms. https://apps.npr.org/2025-election-results/ https://apps.npr.org/2025-election-results/ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/maine-ballot-measures https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/maine-ballot... https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/aftab-pureval-wins-reelection-as-cincinnati-mayor-defeating-jd-vances-relative https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/aftab-pureval-wins-ree... https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-supreme-court-vote-election-race-retains-justices-rcna238914 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-supr... https://thehill.com/homenews/5589670-gop-incumbents-lose-seats/ https://thehill.com/homenews/5589670-gop-incumbents-lose-sea... (California Prop 50 returns aren’t in yet, but I’m hopeful based on turnout as of this comment)
- culi 1y agoPolling has had prop 50 passing for a long time now. Betting markets had it passing at 96% before today. Now it's already up to 99% after the blue wave being evident in other states
- samtheDamned 1y agoedit: unsure of how to delete this, I commented on the wrong state's election oops.
- Scipio_Afri 1y agoWhich high speed rail projects are you referring to?
- dboreham 1y agoBecause their federal funding will be taken away?
- tomhow 1y agoWe detached/collapsed this comment. You can post the comment you meant to post where it's meant to go :)
- voidhorse 1y ago[flagged]
- forthwall 1y agoExciting times in New York City, I wish them the best, it probably will become a uphill battle now to do anything without media on every single thing out the wazooo
- jojobas 1y agoIt will certainly be a lesson in economics, with hopefully some lasting effect. A decade later some will call it vaccination.
- tmvphil 1y agoI'm optimistic that he will actually be a positive force in reforming how the city operates. I think he is pragmatic in that he understands that efficiency in government administration is something that progressives have insufficiently prioritized. His policies are more populist than I'd prefer, but I think not the crazy socialist fever dream that Rs portray it as. The scariest thing for me is the prospect of active sabotage from the federal level, although I don't know how much they have held back.
- voidhorse 1y agoThe gov't may try to fuck with NYC using ICE or whatever, but honestly I think the fears about federal funding are overblown. NYC generates like 2+ trillion GDP all on its own. It is the largest metropolitan economy in the world let alone the United States. I don't know how much NYC actually depends on federal money, but if there's any city that has a chance to figure out how to make it through a government funding squeeze, it's NYC. Honestly I think the only recourse the fed has to put pressure on NYC is the actual gestapo shit they've already been pulling in Chicago.
- octaane 1y agoNYC will riot french style if ICE moves in en-masse
- wakawaka28 1y ago[flagged]
- cmxch 1y agoThat won’t be enough to stop ICE.
- drannex 1y ago> think not the crazy socialist fever dream that Rs portray That's because he's a democratic socialist, not a communist like they want people to think. If people really looked into the policies of the DSA they would support it. There is a reason Einstein, Keller, and more were adamant supporters.
- sfpotter 1y agoNice to see someone young, charismatic, and highly energized breathing life into the decrepit democratic party. Hopefully he can accomplish a ton and repudiate the DNC.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Starman_Jones 1y ago[dead]
- mkoubaa 1y agoI'd rather the young charismatic progressives abandon the decrepit democratic party and rewrite the codebase in Rust, to recycle that meme
- nine_zeros 1y agoWhile I don't 100% agree with his policies, I cannot be more excited for someone completely opposite of the corrupt establishment Republicans and Democrats. I was sold when he was willing to back down on some of his own views publicly, admitting publicly that he was wrong on some things. That kind of admission and honesty is so refreshing. Complete opposite of Trump, MAGA, and constant lies. Kudos NYC! Time for a new era.
- ks2048 1y ago> I was sold when he was willing to back down ... Also, he deserves credit for not backing down. A major push calling you a pro-9/11 jihadist? Release an ad speaking Arabic two days before the election.
- add-sub-mul-div 1y agoThere's never been a dumber time in history to claim that Republicans and Democrats are comparable.
- nine_zeros 1y ago[dead]
- michaelbarton 1y agoI hope this win signals (to both parties) that voters are receptive and will get engaged when a clear message is presented about cost of living and quality of life issues. Some of which are taken for granted in most other western countries. I’m no political wonk, and I’m curious what others with more insight might say about his ability to fund and implement his polices. I’m reminided of Obama and his hopeful message but he was mostly stymied on policy goals. Specifically Obamacare as an example ended up being watered down
- NewJazz 1y agoSometimes I think about what we could have had. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_Americans_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_Americans_Act
- js2 1y agoAnd 15 years before that was Hillarycare (1993): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_19... (Fuck you Bill Kristol.) There's a long, sad, littered history of attempts at universal care in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_health_care_reform_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_health_care_reform_...
- edbaskerville 1y agoBill Kristol has come a long way! He would vote for Mamdani...over Cuomo and Sliwa anyway. https://www.cmcforum.com/post/bill-kristol-says-he-would-vote-for-zohran-mamdani-for-new-york-city-mayor https://www.cmcforum.com/post/bill-kristol-says-he-would-vot... You can hear him discussing it here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bill-kristol-fake-news-on-60-minutes https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bill-kristol-fake-news-on-60-mi... I'm also reminded of the time Jon Stewart got Bill Kristol to admit that a government-run health care system (the VA) was good: https://youtu.be/rRSZiWwiBuE https://youtu.be/rRSZiWwiBuE
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- nextworddev 1y ago[flagged]
- mikeyouse 1y agoThe mayor doesn’t set tax rates..
- collingreen 1y agoDon't let the facts get in the way of some drive by commenting!
- Maxatar 1y agoThis is as relevant as claiming the President doesn't set taxes... it's technically true but displays a very superficial understanding of the overall political process.
- Braxton1980 1y agoThe president signs bills where tax increases could come from. Trump also threatens Republican members of congress to back him so he has much more blame for laws that pass
- codezero 1y agofor people making $1M/year, yeah, I think that was one of his campaign promises that helped get him elected.
- harimau777 1y agoI'd be pretty thrilled with taxes going way up if I got a functional social safety net out of the deal.
- feoren 1y agoIf this doesn't happen, are you going to accept that you were wrong, or are you going to ignore it and be off spreading unfounded anger about some other imagined offense?
- Incipient 1y agoAs someone not in the US that doesn't pay a whole heap of attention, is it just me or did he run mostly uncontested? Running against a republican and a disgraced politician? No clue what mamdani is like, but it seems like NYC had little to no choice...which is a bit disappointing.
- ModernMech 1y agoI mean, if you call "running uncontested" going up against the current mayor, former governor, the editorial board of the NYT and WAPO, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the Speaker of the House, the Senate and House leadership of the Democratic party, not to mention the entire rightwing media apparatus, and the President of the United States himself, yeah he ran uncontested.
- mjmsmith 1y agoAckman, Bloomberg, ...
- jasonpbecker 1y agoIt's unusual that Cuomo ran as an independent trying to "spoil"-- but NYC has such a large number of Democrats (like many US cities) that the more competitive and important election is typically the primary election (which determines who is running for each party). NYC has had a history of sometimes going other directions (as Cuomo's relatively high vote shows; having elected Michael Bloomberg many times, for example). Mamdani won the primary for the democrats over Cuomo, but Cuomo decided to try and do an independent run to further challenge him.
- treetalker 1y agoIf there's one thing the USA needs less of, it's political dynasties.
- voidhorse 1y agoTo a reasonable person, yes, this should have been the case, but politics in America is far from reasonable. The entire establishment marshaled what forces it could to stop mamdani's momentum. Couple this with the fact that there are (unfortunately) many people out there who would rather elect accused sex offenders than risk the chance that somebody marginally aligned with a word and ideology they don't actually understand (socialism) would be elected, or more likely, and worse, people are just racist and/or islamophobic and would sooner elect a man who would grope their daughter than a man who, god forbid, has a different religion than them.
- olalonde 1y agoIt's funny how in the US, even mayors get tagged as "conservative" or "democratic socialist." I always figured their job was just to keep the city services running.
- wodenokoto 1y agoAren’t mayors in all countries politicians? In Denmark all mayors are identified with their party association when talked about in the news.
- nofriend 1y agoin may places eg canada they don't have an explicit party affiliation. obviously they still have a political slant.
- Maxatar 1y agoReviewing various western democracies it looks like most mayoral candidates run affiliated with a political party. The exception is Canada where mayoral candidates run an independent campaign.
- jancsika 1y agoMost of the large city mayoral races in the U.S. are partisan. But I'm not sure how it breaks down by state in the U.S. for small towns.
- bpye 1y ago> The exception is Canada where mayoral candidates run an independent campaign. That's not universal. The City of Vancouver for example has a party system, though the parties are largely not affiliated with provincial or federal parties. There are exceptions there as well though - the Vancouver Greens are affiliated with both the provincial and federal Green parties.
- roncesvalles 1y agoOn the other extreme is India where even university student coucil candidates are associated with national political parties.
- LarsDu88 1y agoI found out his mom directed the movies "Monsoon Wedding" and "Mississipi Masala" with Denzel Washington. Allegedly she was tapped to direct "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", but her then 14 year old son talked her out of it to do "The Namesake" instead
- anuptalwalkar 1y agoTIL he is Mira Nair's son!. The namesake has a special place in my heart.
- lateforwork 1y agoShe is known for movies like Monsoon Wedding... but also Kama Sutra.
- vvpan 1y agoZohran's father is a famous post-colonial scholar. A college professor in my family has had him as part of curriculum for years.
- rishikeshs 1y agoYeah this was a surprise. Monsoon wedding is such a good movie.
- koolba 1y agoI’m a big believer that the people elect the government they deserve. Let’s see how this plays out.
- SanjayMehta 1y ago[flagged]
- sfpotter 1y agoHonest, hardworking people deserve honest, hardworking government.
- matsemann 1y agoThis hoping for a future schadenfreude is kinda nasty. Why wouldn't you want the best for people?
- tbrockman 1y agoIt seems like there are a lot of people who are desperate for reality to conform to their cynicism, out of fear that they (and their world view) are part of the problem. For whatever reason, for some it's more gratifying to see others fail to prosper if it confirms their beliefs than it is to watch others succeed and have their beliefs challenged (even if it's to their own detriment). In many cases, I imagine those who would see themselves as "good" use their world view as a way of absolving themselves of guilt for their actions. If I believe that there was never enough for most to lead dignified lives and that society rewards only self-interest, I don't have to regret taking more than necessary, and I can justify my apathy to the suffering of others. "It is the way of things," I can think to myself, "anything else would be foolish and naive." In this way I can find satisfaction even in inequality, comforted by its inevitability--and my own cleverness in understanding it.
- tavavex 1y agoThis is exactly it, beautifully put. It's very easy and tempting to hide behind an ideology that makes broad-stroke descriptions about the entire world. "It's just how the world works", "it's simply basic economics" (really, nearly all claims about "basic" anything with no further nuance). But for people who are entrenched in their opinions, I don't think there's a lot of absolution or guilt going on. To the most dedicated believers, the belief had become a part of their identity, so vindicating it is almost integral to their being. Of course they'd want anyone who disagrees to suffer - they don't just view that as an inevitability, but also the morally correct thing, the appropriate punishment to the people for not accepting their obvious truth.
- bentt 1y agoI'm happy he won. It's symbolic of voter dissatisfaction. Someone's got to take billionaires on and it might as well be a 34 year old mayor of NYC. Why not? It's honestly staggering how much older Trump is than this guy. 45 years!
- nichos 1y agoWhat's the issue with billionaires?
- howlingfantods 1y agoThey shouldn’t exist
- nickpp 1y agoI lived in a world without billionaires - Eastern Europe pre-1990. It wasn't a world without powerful people though: party nomenklatura and their friends ruled us with an iron fist. Not billionaires in numbers but in lifestyle, power and ruthlessness. Together with actual billionaires, we also lost all the products and services their work created in process of making them billionaires, so we were all cold and hungry. I learned then to cherish societies where one could become billionaires: it meant there was enough economic freedom so that the tiny insignificant me could carve a honest, dignified living for me and my own without begging politician mercy for handouts. We should have more billionaires.
- nichos 1y agoGreat response! Its very trendy to say things like "capitalism is gross" or "billionaires shouldn't exist" but the truth is, capitalism has brought more people out of poverty than anything else in the history of the world. Moreover, billionaires (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc) didn't "steal" anything from you to get there. No one forced you to buy an iPhone.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- testfoobar 1y agoMamdani's and by extension, his voters', ignorance about the effects of price controls in markets will be an interesting real-time political experiment. When the inevitable unintended outcomes become to emerge who will be blamed? https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/resources/apartment-hunting/housing-types/ https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/resources/apart... https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform Quoting Paul Krugman (Nobel prize winner and liberal columnist at the NYT). "The analysis of rent control is among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and -- among economists, anyway -- one of the least controversial. In 1992 a poll of the American Economic Association found 93 percent of its members agreeing that ''a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing.'' Almost every freshman-level textbook contains a case study on rent control, using its known adverse side effects to illustrate the principles of supply and demand. Sky-high rents on uncontrolled apartments, because desperate renters have nowhere to go -- and the absence of new apartment construction, despite those high rents, because landlords fear that controls will be extended? Predictable. Bitter relations between tenants and landlords, with an arms race between ever-more ingenious strategies to force tenants out -- what yesterday's article oddly described as ''free-market horror stories'' -- and constantly proliferating regulations designed to block those strategies? Predictable." https://archive.ph/k4h7J#selection-475.0-475.1011 https://archive.ph/k4h7J#selection-475.0-475.1011
- asdaqopqkq 1y agoHow does he explain Tokyo then ?
- donohoe 1y agoOr any of these: - Vienna, Austria: About 60% of residents live in city-subsidized or cooperatively owned housing - Berlin, Germany: Rent control has been mixed, varies by neighborhood, but seen as working - Singapore: Not rent control in the classic sense, but government-built housing - Montreal, Canada: Rent control applies mainly to existing tenant Not all perfect. There are others. It can work.
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- drannex 1y agoThe DSA is finally having a moment - may they grow by the day.
- ecshafer 1y agoI hope this turns out well for New York, but I am doubtful. Rent control is such a colossally bad idea, a rent freeze is going to be a disaster. This is going to further increase the lottery nature of New York City real estate, and reduce investment. His plans are set to drive finance and businesses out of the city in his goal to give away money to everyone, which will bankrupt the city. Socialism has a bad track record for a reason, there has never been an issue of people trying to escape market economies for socialist ones. The city already has a crime problem, defunding police and making the job unbearable wont help that. Grocery stores already run on razor thin margins, even with the logistics expertise and brutal capitalism of the likes of walmart or aldis, how does the famoisly expensive and incompetent nyc government plan on running a grocery store for cheaper (itll be at a massive loss). This isnt even getting into hos antisemitism “the boot of the nypd on your neck was laced by the idf” should have disqualified him, that kind of antisemetic talk was only on /pol/ like 2 years ago.
- donohoe 1y agoThe city already has a crime problem The city does not have a crime problem. It exists, but its down, and its lower than most comparable (and smaller cities). NYC is safe. Socialism has a bad track record for a reason Only because people confuse it with "communism", otherwise it has a great track record. This isnt even getting into hos antisemitism Yeah, thats why Brad Landers, the most prominent elected Jewish member of the NYC political scene endorsed him and campaigned with him? Perhaps you don't know what you are talking about?
- TimorousBestie 1y agoTheir profile says they’re from philly so yeah. . .
- carnufex 1y agoSocialism works in places with more or less homogenous populations. I always hear Norway/Sweden have universial everything. Yes they do cause taxes are sky high and the culture there is more or less the same. NYC is not Norway. People in Norway let babies sleep outside the supermarket when they go shopping. When you have that level of trust in a society, socialism has a fighting chance for sure. I think the establishment messed up big time here and Mamdami snatched it up.
- octaane 1y agoYou guys have it all wrong. There was only one candidate for the dem party, Here's the list: 1) Cuomo. Sexpest who has been accused by many women of some pretty shitty stuff. Also a member of a multi-generational dynasty, which is not good. 2) Mayor Adams. Federally indicted by the Feds. They have a 99% conviction rate. Not because they're corrupt, but because they only go after people who have dome some really egregious, illegal shit. 3) Mamdani. Millennial candidate. No dirt. Other that some stupid stuff he said while he was young, his policies are relatively common sense and middle of the road, and are aimed at leveling the playing field. Gee, who should I choose? [[said all of NYC today]]
- brandonagr2 1y agoGovernment run grocery stores are middle of the road? What would progressive ideas look like on that spectrum?
- hakfoo 1y agoRation books for all?
- throwaway81523 1y agoPlenty of red states have government run liquor stores. And army bases have government run grocery stores along with government run everything else. I don't see the problem here. Progressive version presumably would be free groceries for everyone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_grocery_store https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_grocery_store
- carnufex 1y agoSilwa pretty much screwed coumo, would of been a tight race if he dropped. Curious to see what happens to NYC if some of the socialist ideas actually get implemented. I think AOC will likely challenge Schumer for his seat now that mandami won.
- btheunissen 1y agoMore like Cuomo screwed Sliwa, if Cuomo wanted to run against the Democratic candidate, he should have ran as a Republican. He already lost the primary and took his sour grapes to the general.
- carnufex 1y agoFair point, either way im not sure how they didnt see this happening. Both were the same more or less with Coumo being more moderate.
- PLenz 1y agoWith 90% reporting Mamdami's lead is larger then Sliwa + Cuomo. Mandami won, not Cuomo and Sliwa lost.
- carnufex 1y agoYeah, I looked when they called and it was very close. More stating, it was inevitable with those 3.
- TheAceOfHearts 1y agoI'm noticing that this election result has made a lot of people I know really hopeful. It's apparent that many people are fed up with the status quo so they're pushing towards more experimental candidates. If anyone here is well-read on his policies and they have specific opinions I'd love to hear what you think. Do you think Zohran will be successful with his agenda or will he get blocked by pushback from other political forces? I read some commentary that a few of his policy ideas are unfeasible without support from Albany, and I'm not sure how to evaluate that relationship. Many online figures have become heavily invested on this mayoral election despite living hundreds or thousands of miles away, and I think that speaks to a real hunger for greater political experimentation. As an aside, how do you evaluate the lessons that you learn or derive from what others are doing? Generalization sure is a tricky thing.
- julianozen 1y agoHi I don’t think I like several of his ideas or think he will get most of them passed. In fact I think a few like “freezing the rent” are actively bad But I’m happy to finally have a politician who lives in and loves New York and is earnestly trying to my the city better. If he tries and fails, it will be better than our other politicians that have stopped trying
- nostrebored 1y agoStrong agree. I think his policies are absurd but hope that more invested young people who aren’t career politicians can start trying a platform that isn’t party line and resonates with residents.
- afavour 1y agoParticularly in comparison to Cuomo who by all accounts doesn’t even seem to like the city he campaigned to run. A tiny bit of joy goes a very long way.
- grvdrm 1y agoExactly.
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- girl2 1y ago[flagged]
- sciencesama 1y agoNeed to see how stocks will react tomorrow!! Nyc mayor mamdani ! Crash at Louisville airport and judgement on trump tariffs !! 1 billion Bitcoin liquidation!
- nemo44x 1y agoRepublicans have completely given up on cities and without being able to even field a worthy candidate it’s the sign of a dying party longer term. You simply have to have some influence in cities. But they had none after a 20 year run where they remade NYC after decades of failure. Bloomberg went independent but he got in as a Republican after a successful Giuliani admin (yes he’s tarnished that). But what happened? Why can’t they field a competitive candidate in cities like NYC or SF or LA or Chicago after failed admin after failed admin? Why have they given up? You need to control cities to have any future. They need to recommit to fighting for them.
- darkwizard42 1y agoThe current Republican playbook seems to be heavily gerrymander a couple of states to dilute the city population impact. See: Texas
- nemo44x 1y agoThey all gerrymander though. But that’s not the point. The point is fleeing cities is what conquered people do. It wouldn’t even be hard to win them.
- TimorousBestie 1y ago> You need to control cities to have any future. It seems like the strategy is to control state legislatures through extensive gerrymandering, then use state sovereignty to control the cities from without. Blue cities in otherwise red states are not able to experiment with local policies anymore, much to everyone’s detriment.
- nemo44x 1y agoThat’s not even the point though. You can always do these things but you still have no cultural power and you’ve yielded the important structures and financial capitals. That’s not a long term strategy. And it’s not that difficult to win these things, especially when you look at how objectively poor the oppositions performance has been in them. Historically they’ve been contested.
- seydor 1y agoThe fact that people in here (who are richer than average) disagree with his policies makes his election more hopeful
- drannex 1y agoAgreed. Thank you for pointing that out.
- lisbbb 1y agoWhy is that? I think many of us who are educated in history understand the risks of collectivism. It has never worked out anywhere. I see it as basically a marketing cover for oligarchy. The Western world should aspire to better than China. I'm not even a conservative, just read a lot. Humanity has had some pretty hellish experiences with communism and yet we keep "going there."
- HellDunkel 1y agoGreetings from western europe. Not so bad and communist around here. They call it social capitalism.
- Workaccount2 1y agoWestern Europe would have been collapsing right now if daddy cold capitalist didn't show up with gas and guns to drive away the Russian bear. Western Europe has been on vacation for 30 years. There is no future where they can stay on the path they have been on. European leaders recognize this, but how the hell do you get a generation raised with an easy life to recognize this? Germans work 400 hours a year less than Americans, and they celebrate that. Good luck.
- dimator 1y ago> Germans work 400 hours a year less than Americans, and they celebrate that. Good luck. Yes, everyone everywhere should endeavor to... checks notes... work the maximum number of hours in a year.
- robotresearcher 1y agoGood grief, NBC runs such shitty junk ads on their front page. What a blight on a once-great brand.
- bix6 1y agoI love how much Mamdani pisses people off just because he wants to buck the status quo. I don’t think he’ll get everything implemented he wants but I respect the mission.
- AbstractH24 1y ago>I love how much Mamdani pisses people off just because he wants to buck the status quo. I don’t think he’ll get everything implemented he wants but I respect the mission. Sounds a lot like the justification many people used to vote for another guy. What to make of that similarity is yet to be seen.
- bix6 1y agoFair point but Mamdani isn’t a racist thief so far as I can tell?
- hagbard_c 1y agoAnd this isn't r/politics even if the site has started to resemble it more and more. There are many labels which can be stuck on Mamdani, none of them pleasant but since this is not r/politics let's just keep them under wraps just like you should have left yours in the drawer.
- dfee 1y ago[flagged]
- gdulli 1y agoHow can not clicking on something be tiring? Coming in here to whine about it took significantly more effort.
- curiousgal 1y agoThere's no such thing as an off topic discussion on HN.
- WatchDog 1y agoI’m not a New Yorker or even an American, but it’s interesting just how much coverage this election has gotten in social media. I think most of his major policies are pretty bad, but I also think the reaction against him has been over the top. He is going to need cooperation from the state legislature, if he wants to collect the taxes needed to fund his policies, and I’m not sure how successful he will be at that. A lot of people are rooting both for and against him, so it’s going to be interesting either way.
- AnimalMuppet 1y ago> He is going to need cooperation from the state legislature, if he wants to collect the taxes needed to fund his policies, and I’m not sure how successful he will be at that. Why? How much of NYC's budget comes from Albany? My impression was that NYC had its own budget, paid for by its own taxes.
- myroon5 1y agoDe jure, even NYC's existence itself is contingent on NYS' permission: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forrest_Dillon#Dillon's_Rule https://wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forrest_Dillon#Dillon's_Rule (de facto realpolitik-wise NYC will continue existing, but my point is to widen your Overton window to realize even NYC's own taxing authority is still under NYS' jurisdiction) --- Btw, federal and state funds were each ~1/6 of NYC's revenue in 2021: https://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/understandingthebudget.pdf https://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/understandingthebudget....
- hagbard_c 1y ago> My impression was that NYC had its own budget, paid for by its own taxes. If those who claimed they would leave NYC for Florida (etc.) make good on their promises NYC will see a significant drop in tax revenues while the expenditures will skyrocket due to Mamdani's free-stuff policies. They can try to increase taxes which will lead to more net tax payers leaving the city. Of course it remains to be seen whether all those who said they would leave - up to a million people according to the legacy media - end up doing so but if this comes to pass those free buses might not end up happening after all. He'll probably blame it on the exodus and wash his hands clean off his campaign promises.
- nelox 1y ago[flagged]
- afavour 1y agoWhen has Mamdani claimed Israel is to blame for NYC’s cost of living problem?
- paxys 1y agoHe has not. In fact Mamdani is the only candidate who has consistently sought to stop the incessant focus on Israel and talk about New York, something the media and the poster above are still incapable of doing. This is partly what got him elected.
- tguvot 1y agohe sought to stop the incessant focus on Israel so much that he promised to arrest netanyahu in case he arrives to new york. according to CNN exit poll out of those voters for whom position of candidate on israel is a factor in vote, 49% voted for mamdani. And his position on Israel is known
- cloudflare728 1y agoI wish our country was like this. A city "president" can speak against the President. A city President has the power to work without the will of the President.
- gmac 1y agoWell, maybe. Under Trump I’d be less sure of that.
- dluan 1y agoZohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. But Zohran's not alone, today's election was a massive swing back in almost every single race. School boards, city councils, state houses and senates, all swung radically left. It should be ringing alarm bells that the SF / YC / startup community that used to champion utilitarian, meritocratic QoL improvements as a mission, is now so deeply forked from the base that sprung today's results. Politicians like Zohran won't be bought off by Palantir money. So, what's Peter Thiel and Gary to do? Where is Marc Benioff going to park his money? Reid Hoffman, Dustin Moskovitz, Michael Moritz, Reed Hastings, Eric Schmidt, Laurene Jobs, Ben Horowitz - all of these people aren't doing the normal pay for play donations, they are interested in shaping the party in their image. Well, Zohran doesn't look like you.
- kelnos 1y ago> Zohran is exactly the kind of change candidate that the San Francisco machine with Grow SF would actively seek to squash. GrowSF is a conservative group with a right-wing policy platform trying to pretend it's progressive, so I'm not sure why that would be surprising. The SF tech millionaires/billionaires are not progressive. They may have claimed to be in the past, but that was either opportunism, or they lost it as they made more money and saw people like Trump and Musk gain power.
- dluan 1y agoThe 2010's was the moment of SV emerging as a political donor cornerstone combined with Obama's peak, when up until that point, tech had been relatively hands off (80s through to 2010's). It was then that QE and low interest rates become part of VC strategy, and so SV got comfy with its image as supporting mainstream liberal candidates and policies. They all threw money behind the Dem machine (Obama, Hillary, Biden) until they realized they weren't actually getting any decision making power for their purchases, so the ones who felt some amount of urgency switched to Trump by showing up to speak at rallies or inaugurations. Grow SF really only exists to go after city council members or school board members who get into twitter fights with a certain someone.
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- paxys 1y agoWho would have thought that New Yorkers didn’t appreciate out-of-state billionaires playing “Zohran did 9/11” attack ads over and over on TV for months on end. He was the only candidate with a clear plan for the city, and voters rewarded him for it.
- mkhattab 1y agoAs a muslim, I hope he doesn't eff this up, Obama style. But the fact that he won, although not the blowout as some were expecting, restored a bit of my hope in the common man. Cuomo's attacks may have swayed some of the vote but ultimately failed. I hope Mamdani succeeds for the sake of New York (California resident here) and hopefully this win inspires other young people around the country to participate in politics.
- bradlys 1y agoI left nyc a couple months ago after living there for three years. The city has so many issues and something only someone like Mamdani (with good support) could fix. It’s been said that it’s impossible for a New York City mayor to be uncorrupt. By the nature of getting the position, you must be a corrupt individual. That’s why you see so many past mayors and potentials having such a shameful history. Mamdani feels like a break from that tradition. I wish the Bay Area could replicate something similar. We suffer from similar issues as NYC but we are constantly getting conservative leaning officials who refuse to get law enforcement to do their job. Breed was a center politician (right leaning in any other western country), and now we have a center right mayor. I’ve not really noticed much improvement in the bay - even with the current mayor’s constant posting on TikTok. I just see him blocking housing development and congratulating developers on building more empty office space in a city that desperately needs more housing. Not a surprise if you’ve lived here for a while. The Bay Area is incredibly conservative for all its performative wokeism.
- Kephael 1y agoThe Bay Area is far wealthier and much more economically relevant than NYC. NYC has a very large low income population. NYC doesn't have nearly as strong of an economy, financial services and trading firms are increasingly leaving. Whereas the Bay Area, particularly the peninsula, is home to the companies shaping the future like OpenAI and Nvidia along with a huge number of quality startups.
- archagon 1y agoWe may have to revisit this comparison once the AI bubble pops.
- Kephael 1y agoThe Bay Area companies have been driving the economy forward for several decades now, it's been economically dominant since the mid 1990s. Consider more 'recent' companies like Google, Facebook, and older companies like PayPal and eBay. We already had the dotcom bubble pop, but that was more akin to a bump in the road.
- scrubs 1y agoA salient factor in this election is Trump. I've been saying for years that overreach on the right creates space, then oxygen, then agency for the (far) left. This election is the natural and logical consequence of maga overreach (and vanilla skanky stupidity) and reminds economic popularism is not wholly owned by the right. My fear is the US will cycle dumb right to stupid left, which helps absolutely nobody. It's too early to eval mandarin... that will come ... but this under current has now got first and second derivative postive.
- hypeatei 1y ago> My fear is the US will cycle dumb right to stupid left, which helps absolutely nobody. I agree, but having a "stupid left" is a whole lot better than a "dumb right" who is authoritarian and willing to side step everything in their hopes of creating a christo-fascist utopia.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- raldi 1y agoI'm glad he won, and I hope he succeeds, but there are going to be a lot of powerful forces out to sabotage him any way they can.
- logifail 1y agoVoters across the political spectrum feel ignored. For decades mainstream parties (both centre-left and centre-right) have repeatedly promised change but after getting into power somehow (re-)converged on technocratic, market-friendly "consensus politics". If you're worried about stagnant wages, job insecurity, crumbling public infrastructure and/or the cost of housing, then you probably don't notice - or care - whether the stock markets are going up.
- ETH_start 1y agoMamdani offers nothing that will improve affordability. It's the same economic fallacies that have been proven to destroy Affordability over the long run, e.g. rent control. The actual solution is to repeal the morass of regulatory restrictions on housing that have been put in place since 1960. Per 1,000 residents, only 2.68 houses were built in San Francisco between 2010 and 2020, compared to 12.66 houses between 1950 and 1960. For New York, only 2.38 houses were built per 1,000 residents between 2010 and 2020, compared to 8.88 houses between 1950 and 1960. Regulatory restrictions imposed on housing in San Francisco and New York since 1960: San Francisco: - 1960: City Planning Code (Zoning Ordinance) - Established zoning districts with specific regulations on use, density, building types, minimum lot sizes (e.g., 2,500 sq ft for most, 4,000 for R-1-D), and one-for-one parking requirements per dwelling unit, restricting housing types by enforcing low-density controls and increasing development costs through compliance and parking mandates. - 1970: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) - State law requiring environmental impact assessments for projects, significantly lengthening permitting times (often adding years due to reviews and litigation) and increasing costs for housing development through extensive studies and potential mitigations. - 1978: Comprehensive Rezoning and Adoption of RH (Residential House) and RM (Residential Multi-family) Districts - Reduced zoned capacity for housing on the city's West Side, making thousands of multi-family properties non-conforming, restricting allowable densities and types of housing, which limits supply expansion. - 1979: San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance (Rent Ordinance) - Imposed rent controls on multi-family units built before June 1979, limiting annual rent increases (typically 2% or less), which can increase overall housing costs by reducing incentives for new construction and maintenance, indirectly restricting supply. - 1979: Condominium Conversion Ordinance - Limited annual conversions of rental units to condominiums (initially 1,000, later 200 for 2-6 unit buildings), preserving rentals under rent control but restricting ownership housing options and potentially increasing costs by limiting market flexibility. - 1981: Residential Hotel Demolition and Conversion Ordinance - Prohibited demolition or conversion of residential hotel units without one-for-one replacement or in-lieu fees to an affordable housing fund, increasing costs and permitting times for redevelopment projects involving such properties. - 1985: Office Housing Production Program - Required large office developments (25,000+ sq ft) to provide affordable housing, donate land, or pay fees based on new employees, linking commercial to residential mitigation, which raises costs and can lengthen approvals for mixed projects. - 1986: Proposition M (Office Development Limit) - Capped annual office space approvals and introduced a competitive "Beauty Contest" process prioritizing affordable housing and neighborhood preservation, lengthening permitting times and increasing costs through required community benefits. - 1992: Inclusionary Housing Policy - Mandated 10% affordable units in planned unit developments or projects needing conditional use permits outside redevelopment areas, increasing development costs by requiring set-asides. - 2002: Inclusionary Affordable Housing Ordinance (Planning Code §§ 415, 419) - Required 15% on-site or 20% off-site affordable units (or in-lieu fees) for projects of 10+ units, directly raising building costs and potentially restricting project feasibility. - 2010: Revisions to Inclusionary Housing Policy - Adjusted post-Palmer decision to favor fees over units, increasing costs for developers not building affordable housing on-site, which can deter middle-income projects. - 2012: Housing Trust Fund (Proposition C) - Captured revenue for affordable housing but reduced inclusionary obligations by ~20% for some projects while capping others, potentially increasing costs for non-qualifying developments. - 2013: Condominium Conversion Ordinance Amendment - Allowed ~2,200 TIC units to convert with fees up to $20,000 per unit to an affordable fund, but imposed a 10-year moratorium on further conversions, restricting housing type changes and adding costs. - 2016: Amendment to Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program - Voter-approved increase from 12% to 25% on-site affordable units, deemed economically infeasible by studies, raising development costs and potentially reducing overall housing production. - 2016: Amendment to Planning Code for Legalization Program - Required Conditional Use Authorization to remove unauthorized units, adding discretionary reviews that lengthen permitting times and increase costs. - 2017: Executive Directive 17-02 - Mandated additional coordination and deadlines for approvals, which, while aiming to streamline, can extend permitting times for complex projects due to heightened administrative requirements. New York City: - 1961: New York City Zoning Resolution - Overhauled zoning to emphasize low-density districts (60% of residential lots in lowest categories, 12% single-family only), imposed parking and open space requirements, and created manufacturing zones prohibiting residences, restricting housing types, increasing costs via parking mandates, and limiting adaptive reuse. - 1969: Rent Regulation Laws (State and City Rent Stabilization) - Instituted controls on rents and evictions, making it costly and time-consuming to demolish or redevelop regulated buildings (tenants can demand high buyouts), reducing supply and increasing development costs. - 1974: Amendments to Rent Regulation Laws - Extended protections to post-1974 buildings under certain conditions, further complicating demolitions and renovations, raising costs by making land assemblage infeasible and limiting new housing supply. - 1975: State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), Implemented Locally as City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) in 1976 - Required environmental reviews for discretionary projects, adding extensive analyses, potential litigation, and delays (often years), significantly lengthening permitting times and increasing costs. - 1977: Ground Floor Use Regulations for High-Density Neighborhoods - Mandated 50% of ground floors on major streets for specific retail/restaurant uses in post-1977 buildings, restricting flexible mixed-use designs and increasing costs for housing in such areas. - 1980s: Residential Conversion Rules for Obsolete Nonresidential Buildings - Limited conversions to pre-1961 (later extended to 1961-1977) buildings in specific areas, restricting adaptive reuse for housing and adding costs through narrow applicability. - 1981: Retention of Stricter NYC Building Code (Non-Adoption of State Uniform Code) - Maintained unique, more stringent code requirements, increasing construction costs due to specialized materials and complex enforcement, while potentially delaying permits. - 1987: Quality Housing Zoning Text Amendments - Imposed contextual requirements in medium/high-density zones (R6-R10), limiting density and design options, making cost-effective projects harder and restricting housing types. - 1989: Lower Density Contextual Zoning Amendments - Reduced density by nearly 50% in R3-R5 zones, enforcing height, setback, and type limits, decreasing multi-family production and increasing costs in medium-density areas. - 1989: Attempt to Raise Taxes on Vacant Land - Proposed higher taxes to spur development, but increased holding costs, potentially deterring or raising expenses for housing projects on such land. - 1991: State Requirement for Residentially-Zoned Vacant Land Tax Classification - Kept lower tax rates for vacant land outside Manhattan, reducing incentives to build and indirectly increasing housing costs through delayed development. - 1996: Local Law 37 (Third-Party Transfer Law) - Authorized city transfers of tax-delinquent properties, adding complexity to land acquisition for housing, lengthening times and costs especially with condemnation. - 1999: Sprinkler Requirement Law - Mandated sprinklers in buildings with 4+ units or renovations costing 50%+ of value, directly increasing construction and renovation costs. - 2002-2013: Bloomberg Administration Neighborhood Rezonings (Including Downzonings and Contextual Rezonings) - Decreased development capacity in some areas and limited potential via contextual rules, restricting types and slowing construction in high-demand neighborhoods. - 2005: Greenpoint/Williamsburg Rezoning - Retained high retail parking requirements in parts, necessitating large garages in apartment buildings, raising costs and deterring housing. - 2007: Increase in Minimum Size for 421-a Tax Incentive - Raised threshold from 3 to 4 units for eligibility, making smaller multifamily projects less viable and increasing relative costs. - 2016: Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA) Update - Modernized provisions but failed to boost density significantly, maintaining restrictions on housing types in low-density zones and adding regulatory complexity that can extend permitting. - 2018: Special Permit for New Hotels in Light Manufacturing Districts - Required permits with union conditions for hotels, deterring construction and limiting reuse of surplus hotels for housing, increasing conversion costs. - 2019: Amendments to Rent Stabilization Laws - Applied stabilization to some market-rate units under 421-a if rents fall below thresholds, reducing developer incentives for new rentals and increasing costs in middle-income areas.
- nsoonhui 1y agoNew York is always deep blue, so what is the significance of a Democrat winning this time? What is perhaps more telling is that the Democrats are putting up such a far-left candidate to the extent that even Obama can't endorse Zohran Mamdani's self-described 'democratic socialist' platform.
- AbstractH24 1y ago> New York is always deep blue, so what is the significance of a Democrat winning this time? Until the 2010s NY actually had a shockingly long record of electing Republican leaders on both the city and state levels. Despite being "deep blue."
- jjk166 1y agoRepublicans (or a former republican running as an independent) have won 5 of the last 9 NYC Mayoral elections. Mamdani will be the third democratic mayor elected since the 80s.
- hashstring 1y agoLet’s go. What a great team, message, and well deserved win.
- dyauspitr 1y agoIt’s not entirely about this election but it feels like this uptick in right wing extremism might burn out far sooner than the regular 10-20 year political cycle we usually see.
- FridayoLeary 1y agoI have some thoughts on this. Mamdani is a very charismatic person, and is in touch with a large segment of modern Democrat voters. It's the sort of stuff that can carry him to the White House as VP. He won more then 50% of the vote with a large turnout. As far as mandates go it's a pretty good one. Now for the other stuff. He is a pretty extreme socialist. He wants to raise taxes on rich guys, businesses. Make buses free, rent controls, defunding the police, city run stores and more. These are great vote winners and terrible ideas. All of that has been tried and failed many times. As a political belief system socialism is a disaster. Thatcher pointed out that no other political experiment has been run as long and has so completely failed as socialism. I think his ideas represents all of the worst excesses of the Democrat party. Then there's the man personally. My impression of him is he's basically a spoiled rich kid who's never had to work a day in his life. That doesn't mean he's not allowed to be ambitious, but it does put into question his credentials as a genuine socialist. It's easy to hold popular opinions when they won't affect your lifestyle in any way. Finally there's the ugly stuff. He has used the term "globalise the intifada". For any of his apologists who will claim that phrase has any peaceful connotations, imagine a populist saying "globalise National Socialism". Would you be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt? NYC is perhaps the most important city in the world. I'm worried for it.
- lisdexan 1y ago>My impression of him is he's basically a spoiled rich kid who's never worked a day in his life. That doesn't mean he's not allowed to be ambitious, but it does put into question his credentials as a genuine socialist. It's easy to hold popular opinions when they won't affect your lifestyle in any way. Being a basically a edgy candidate from a Green EU party doesn't require a vow of poverty, nor an actual take-the-means-of-production Socialist for that matter. He's the son of a college professor and a filmmaker with award winning movies and docs with shitty box offices. Clearly extremely comfortable, but straight humble compared to "my daddy made me campaign manager" Cuomo. I'm sure his proposals aren't optimal for his parents home equity. > He has used the term "globalise the intifada" He never said it. It just the ol' reliable "Mr Candidate, do you condemn the phrase 'I love kicking puppies'? No, saying that’s not the language that you use is not valid for some reason." I recommend to expand your news diet.
- metaPushkin 1y ago[flagged]
- preommr 1y agoLeft wing candidate wins in extremely Left wing city, against "Cuomo"[0], to become mayor and people are celebrating this like it's some historical achievement. Everyday I grow more blackpilled about the balance of powers in the US if this is what the left-wing has going for it. [0] His name alone should be a synonym for how bad of a candidate he was, there's no single label good enough (like sex offender) to cover how bad he was.
- EasyMark 1y agoNew York City is only extreme left wing if your baseline is Tucker, Oklahoma
- barrenko 1y agohttps://www.zinebriboua.com/p/zohran-mamdani-third-worldism-and?hide_intro_popup=true https://www.zinebriboua.com/p/zohran-mamdani-third-worldism-... Zohran Mamdani, Third-Worldism, and the Algerian Revolution
- 23david 1y agoWhy is this on HN.
- cbar_tx 1y agoread the comments. The HN community is ecstatic. It's good to see there are a few who understand basic economics but politically, the folks here at hn are not much different than over at reddit lol
- bean469 1y agoBest of luck to the new mayor of NYC!
- Blackstrat 1y agoDidn't work out well in London. Let's hope NYC does better. Doubt it, but we can always hope.
- twixfel 1y agoLondon's fine. Trump and his supporters love to lose their shit over a Muslim mayor though.
- gmac 1y agoSays who? And more importantly, on what possible basis? For my money Khan is an infinitely better mayor than ‘let the bodies pile high’ Johnson.
- hexbin010 1y agoAny particular, material achievements you support? Genuinely curious as someone who lives in the UK but far from London
- Blackstrat 1y ago[flagged]
- doom2 1y ago> He is an anti-Semite. Fortunately for NYC voters, the other candidates (and national Republicans generally) seemed happy to traffic in casual Islamophobia. Why we don't treat the two as equally unacceptable is beyond me.
- thrance 1y ago> He is an anti-Semite. A fat lie, coming from a place of deep islamophobia. He isn't a communist either, no matter how many times you scream it.
- hexbin010 1y agoI remember being young and hopeful about elections. Sigh They're one of the many things tightly controlled by the unseen hands. It's theatre with a crazy advertising budget I hope this time it's different though, NY
- AbstractH24 1y agoThis will be the third consecutive mayor NYC has elected based on some degree of pandering to identity politics. By the time the last two left office, the prevailing sentiment about them was "good riddance." Let's see how NYC ends up feeling about this one.
- martin82 1y agoI predict that NYC will now quickly turn into an absolute shithole of epic proportions to the point that people will have to flee the city. Similar to London.