Well, that did not take long. New York City’s new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is already discovering that campaign slogans are a lot cheaper than governing the largest city in America. After promising to expand the city’s massive rental assistance program, he is now backtracking because, shockingly, it costs too much.
The program in question is CityFHEPS, a rental voucher initiative that already runs north of $1 billion. During the campaign, Mamdani pledged to expand it. That promise helped energize his base, particularly activists aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, the group he is affiliated with.
Now reality has entered the chat.
According to reports, Mamdani is facing a projected $7 billion budget deficit over the next two years. Suddenly, expanding a billion dollar program does not seem quite as easy. At a recent news conference, he suggested the expansion is simply too costly given the city’s fiscal situation.
That is quite a pivot.
The expansion had previously been upheld in court after being proposed by the city council. Activists even filed a lawsuit seeking to force the city to move forward with it. Mamdani’s administration is now negotiating with those same activists to settle the case, which is likely to stir some serious tension with the very base that helped put him in office.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers in Albany are already grilling him over his broader economic agenda, including his “tax the rich” rhetoric. Investors and business owners have heard that song before. When you start talking about squeezing the highest earners in a city that depends heavily on high income taxpayers, you are playing a dangerous game.
All of this comes as basic city services are under scrutiny. Snow removal has been criticized. Trash pickup has been inconsistent in some neighborhoods. Public safety concerns remain front and center. Yet instead of tightening the belt across the board, the mayor is juggling campaign promises he cannot afford to keep.
This is the uncomfortable truth about big government dreams. It is easy to promise expanded benefits when you assume someone else will foot the bill. It is much harder when you are the one staring at a multibillion dollar deficit.
The irony is almost too rich. A self described socialist promising expansive public programs now forced to admit that the math does not work. That is not betrayal. That is arithmetic.
The question now is how long his base remains patient. The activists who wanted sweeping change are not known for their tolerance of half measures. If Mamdani cannot deliver on signature promises just two months into the job, what does year one look like?
New York City is about to find out what governing by ideology costs.
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