Copyright The New York Times
In the fall of 1990, Mayor David Dinkins was watching homicides surge and his popularity plummet — “Dave, Do Something,” implored The New York Post — when he found himself in a room that was much more comfortable, more matched up with the lefty ideals that had sent him into politics in the first place. Under a banner of the fist and rose, facing union bigwigs and foreign left-wing leaders, the mayor of New York gave a speech not about the crises of the city, but about the promises of socialism. “Socialist ideals have played a powerful role in this city,” Mr. Dinkins, dressed in a sharp suit and striped tie, told a council meeting of the Socialist International in October 1990. “Public education, a strong and vibrant trade union movement and many great cultural institutions are products of the socialist movement.” Historically, he’s right: Throughout the history of New York, a city of immigrants and political machines and union loyalists, democratic socialist voices have been part of the thrum of local politics. Mr. Dinkins himself was, at some point, a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Yet as Zohran Mamdani, the front-runner in this year’s mayoral race, campaigns as a D.S.A. member, his opponents have cast the prospect of a socialist in City Hall as simply un-New York — a big-city mismatch up there with pastrami with mayo. “Socialism is not going to work for New York,” former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, one of Mr. Mamdani’s opponents in the general election, said bluntly last month. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
