Topline
New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the underdog winner of Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary, ran an insurgent campaign focusing on cost of living issues—but many of his policy proposals, rooted in hard-left politics, have been blasted by critics.
The New York democratic socialist who cruised to victory in the Democratic mayoral primary has laid … More
Key Facts
Rent stabilization freeze: One of the core promises of his campaign, Mamdani proposes appointing members to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (which determines price increases for rent-stabilized units) who would halt rent increases on New York’s roughly 960,600 rent stabilized apartments, reversing the board’s approach of approving annual rent increases underMayor Eric Adams’ administration.
City-Owned Grocery Stores: Five city-owned grocery stores would be opened under Mamdani’s plan, one in each borough which he says would avoid rent and property taxes, in an effort to lower the cost of food—an effort harshly criticized by billionaire Gristedes supermarkets owner John Catsimatidis, who told the New York Post he would consider moving his business conglomerate to New Jersey should Mamdani win the general election.
Arresting Benjamin Netanyahu: Mamdani in December said he would not welcome the Israeli prime minister to the city, who was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court last November: “As mayor of New York City, I would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a city that our values are in line with international law, it’s time that our actions are also,” Mamdani said (the U.S. is not a signatory member of the ICC).
Free buses and childcare: Mamdani is proposing making bus fares across the city completely free, an expansion of a pilot program that made five bus lines free last year, as well as funding universal childcare for all children ages six weeks through five years, primarily through funding and supporting early childcare centers.
Regulating delivery apps: Mamdani is proposing new regulations on delivery apps like GrubHub and Uber Eats, including requiring firms to standardize how they pay their cyclists and allow customers to tip at the start of an order—DoorDash donated $1 million to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s super PAC in May and some delivery apps became major backers of his mayoral campaign.
Creating a “Mom-and-Pop czar”: Despite the pushback from some business owners like Catsimatidis, Mamdani is also proposing a new office to promote small businesses, aiming to slash fines, fees and regulations for small businesses and enact a 500% funding increase for the city’s Business Express Service Teams that help businesses deal with permitting and compliance.
How Would Mamdani Fund These Plans?
Mamdani’s campaign platform says his agenda will be paid for by tax increases, including adding a flat 2% tax increase on the 1% of New Yorkers earning more than $1 million per year. He also proposed hiking the corporate tax rate from 9% to 11.5% to match New Jersey’s rate—which his campaign says will bring in an additional $5 billion annually for the city. However, in order to implement these tax increases, Mamdani would likely have to work alongside the state legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has already expressed misgivings about the plan. “I’m not raising taxes at a time when affordability is the big issue,” Hochul told PIX11 last week. When asked specifically about raising taxes on the wealthiest residents, Hochul was still dismissive. “I don’t want to lose any more people to Palm Beach. We’ve lost enough.” Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment from Forbes.
Key Background
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had been heavily favored to win the Democratic primary, despite stepping down as governor in 2021 in the midst of a sexual harassment scandal he later denied. Mamdani has only served in the New York State Assembly since 2021, but his ground campaign drove early voter turnout in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. The same data revealed that 25% of those early voters had never voted in a Democratic primary between 2012 and 2024, implying the campaign energized more voters than expected. The Associated Press called the race for Mamdani on Tuesday night with 43.5% of votes, compared to Cuomo’s 36.4%.
Crucial Quote
“We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” Mamdani said in his victory speech Tuesday evening, echoing his campaign’s major theme of reducing the cost of living.
Chief Critics
Wall Street executives, many of whom supported Cuomo, were among the loudest critics of Mamdani during the campaign. Many continued criticizing his policies after his victory on Tuesday. Bill Ackman, a Cuomo megadonor who contributed $500,000 to his super PAC, criticized the low voter turnout in the primary election. “If we allow 9.1% of registered voters determine the future of New York City, then we deserve the city that we are going to get,” Ackman wrote in a post on X. Dan Loeb, the billionaire CEO of hedge fund Third Point, announced the start of “hot commie summer.” Republicans such as Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary for former President George W. Bush, called on New Yorkers to “evacuate” the city, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz invited New Yorkers to move to the Lone Star State. Vice President JD Vance hailed Mamdani as the “new leader of the Democratic Party,” trying to tie the democratic socialist’s platform to the party at large. Others attacked Mamdani’s background. “NYC is the clearest warning yet of what happens to a society when it fails to control migration,” Trump advisor Stephen Miller wrote in a post on X. Mamdani was born in Uganda and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Further Reading
