As Zohran Mamdani flexes his frontrunner status in the final seven weeks of the mayoral election, he’s not moderating to ensure his win — but reveling in his leftism.
Despite the business community’s efforts to build bridges with him, Mamdani is ratcheting up his anti-capitalist rhetoric, equating profit with greed and rolling out plans for massive tax hikes, all while refusing to say who might serve in his administration.
Last week, he laid out his radical two-pronged tax hike plan in an appearance at Columbia University, saying he’ll be “raising the top corporate tax rate” to 11.5%, and “raising New York City’s personal income tax rate on the top 1% [of earners] by 2%.”
Up to now, such pledges were a pipe dream.
New York’s mayor has no power to raise such taxes without the consent of the state Legislature and governor — and Gov. Kathy Hochul for months has expressly opposed Mamdani’s tax-hike plans.
Yet on Sunday Hochul unequivocally endorsed Mamdani in a simpering statement that put all their “disagreements” in the past tense.
That ended any hope she’ll safeguard New York from ruinous tax increases.
Hochul is redefining her priorities, genuflecting to the left as she reads the mayoral polls.
“Affordability has long been my top priority as governor, and it is the No. 1 concern I share with Mr. Mamdani,” she claimed in her endorsement.
What a fool. Tax hikes will accelerate the exodus of businesses and citizens, dooming New York to become the Evacuation State rather than the Empire State.
Mandami has Hochul in a headlock.
If he wins the mayoralty, she will have to kowtow to whatever he demands as she navigates her own re-election bid next year against challenges from her left flank and rising discontent upstate.
New York City will pay the price.
And while Mamdani has collected her endorsement, he declines to return the favor.
Ouch.
Along with the tax talk, Mamdani indulged in another bit of economic demagoguery last week when he launched a petition campaign to bully FIFA into capping its prices for next year’s World Cup games and setting discount tickets aside for local residents.
It’s another cautionary sign he’s ready to go to war against New York City capitalists.
“For far too long [FIFA] has looked upon these World Cups as opportunities for profit,” he proclaimed. “My commitment is to bring the world’s game to the people.”
The petition called on FIFA “to put game over greed.”
By the way, signers were also asked to pledge their votes to Mamdani.
This should set alarm bells ringing for Gotham’s top attractions.
Broadway theatres, you’re on notice: By Mamdani’s logic, he’ll soon be shaming you into reserving tickets for locals at cheaper prices.
Maybe luxury restaurants will be next, told to set aside an affordability section, or perhaps institute sliding-scale menu pricing.
New York’s mayor should be boosting commerce and tourism, celebrating the city’s world-class draws like sporting events, Broadway and fine dining — not going on the attack against capitalism.
Worse than his rhetoric, though, is Mamdani’s pie-in-the-sky, big-spending promises.
By this time next year, a source close to the municipal unions told me, the city will be in deep fiscal trouble if Mamdani wins.
And we won’t have the safety net of a reactivated Financial Control Board, which rescued Gotham from a financial debacle in 1975: That would require the consent of Mamdani backers in the state Legislature, especially Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who endorsed the frontrunner Wednesday.
“Millionaire taxes poll extremely well,” Heastie grinned, signaling he’ll make sure Mamdani gets his way.
Still, this mayoral race is not over. Some local Democrats are understandably wary.
“Party leadership are putting wealthy donors first who feel threatened by Mamdani’s agenda to hold them accountable and make them pay their fair share,” complained Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, complaining about the holdout Dems who have not yet kissed Mamdani’s ring.
Never mind that the top 1% of NYC earners already pay an eye-watering 48% of the city’s income-tax revenue.
Long Island Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen, for one, reacted to Hochul’s endorsement with horror, citing the need to bring down taxes, not raise them.
Gillen’s no fool — she won her swing-district seat by less than 9,000 votes last year.
A Mayor Mamdani wreaking havoc in next-door New York City could doom her re-election chances.
Most interesting, though, is word the DSA’s Gordillo estimates that 500,000 voters now back Mamdani, not a significant gain over the 469,000 who chose him in the first round of the Democratic primary.
That could mean there’s a ceiling on support for this anti-capitalist extremist — and in a high-turnout election, all bets, including Hochul’s, will be off.