Pat Wandling: The Big Apple is applesauce
The Big Apple is applesauce.
…Unless the Republican and sane Democrats get together and work out a strategy to keep self-described Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor of New York.
It was, indeed, a “yikes” moment when this radical upstart defeated ten other Democrats in Tuesday’s New York primary election. A couple of reports this week called Mamdani a “rising star.”
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams filed as an independent and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa won the Republican nomination without opposition. Their Democratic opponent is a state assemblyman from Queens who was endorsed by fellow socialists U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Also, based on recent statements, Mamdani is anti-Israel, antisemitic, and pro-Hamas. Did they know?
Mamdani campaigned on lowering the cost of living in New York through public largesse: a four-year rent freeze on all stabilized apartments (impacting more than two million renters), free city buses, free child care, city-owned grocery stores, and 200,000 affordable housing units.
That may seem like a wondrous agenda that appeals to working-class people struggling with the high cost of living in and around the Big Apple, but his opponents and thoughtful people keep asking, “Who’s going to pay for all this?” Mamdani doesn’t care; he wants to win.
Unrealistic promises are made by candidates like Mamdani every election season. Surely he’s sent shivers down the spine of other Democrats in a party that is already fractured. New York City, according to Adams, was on the brink of bankruptcy. He personally appealed to Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump for help.
New York has lately been responsible for the health, education, and housing of a major influx of new immigrants – plus the existing poor. According to the city’s shelter system, that number fell to 56,000 immigrants as of March. Adams claimed credit.
He said his administration reduced these costs by nearly $2.8 billion. But expenses remain hefty. We can assume Mamdani is running, and likely winning, with a deceptive campaign that discounts the billions city has spent on the homeless, the mentally ill, poor legal residents, and illegal immigrants. And he has a plan to provide even more free stuff. In a city like New York, it could be a winner.
On a political scale, Mamdani’s far-left tilt appeals to Ocasio-Cortez and wealthy socialist Bernie Sanders, but the election shows many more have flocked to his campaign. The party is in obvious chaos of late because of the expanding ideological differences within. The Democrats have shifted to the left of even their own traditional base and President Donald Trump’s appeal to working-class erstwhile Democrats is partly responsible for his Blue State victories. Most Americans are sensible and centrist.
We are watching, with great interest, New York City through the lens of the Democratic Party’s endeavor to become relevant again. Moreover, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people in the Philadelphia region commute to work in New York. It is relevant here for that reason.
So now we wait and see if the “rising star” is successful in the finals. And if he is, what happens to the Big Apple?
Pat Wandling hosts Speak Your Piece weekdays at noon on WBCB 1490.
