The Bold Case for Zohran Mamdani
What if it all goes according to plan?
It’s the eve of election night, and I’m having a drink at Fiction Bar listening to live jazz and pretending like I have something crucial to say about the mayoral election in New York City, one of the greatest cities in the Western World. Tomorrow we’ll know for sure if Zohran Mamdani is the mayor-elect of New York. How did we get here? What does this mean for politics around the city, as well as politics for the rest of the country?
I’m going to make the case for what happens if everything goes according to plan - if we’re actually on the cusp of a new political movement in America, and if it’s time for the Democrats to start making sense again and stop embarrassingly losing elections.
The Modern Failure of the Left
Many of Zohran’s policies aren’t necessarily new. In San Francisco, bus fares are effectively unenforced, rent control is quite common, and alternative sources of policing funded. The results have been abysmal and horrifying. Many people feel unsafe taking public transit. An old coworker of mine was cornered and attacked while taking the bus to work, leading to her feeling unsafe relying on it to get to work. Rent control exists, yet the housing crisis in San Francisco is at an all time high. Alternatives to policing exist but are ineffective at rehabilitating homeless, which leads to more suffering for both the unhoused and the service workers that interact with them on a daily basis.
People are skeptical of Zohran’s policies because they’ve been them fail in cities like SF. My theory is simple: Zohran’s policies can work in New York because NYC is different.
The Massive Bull Case
Why can’t buses be free, safe, and fast? New York is already a city that has an extremely well functioning public transit system, why can’t we dream of making it even better? Rent control is not the cause of the housing crisis: lack of development of new housing is. It’s possible to do both, something Zohran has said is a part of his agenda. Alternatives for policing, especially to handle domestic disputes or first responders, sound like great ideas but haven’t been successfully put into practice, yet.
New York has the potential to get these right primary because New York is not SF. It’s much more politically diverse, and it’s historically had a much stronger track record of city compentence. New York could be the first city that successfully executes this policy, creating a more prosperous city for everyone. Public transit being free, fast, and safe? Why can’t NYC be the first to do it well in America? I think it’s worth a shot.
NYC is already a very expensive place to live - I like to think that New Yorkers get way they pay for. An expensive city with the best of all types of things: beautiful people, great arts, world-class restaurants, everything else that makes NYC special. There’s a chance we get more of all of it. If NYC builds more housing sustainably it means more great restaurants, free buses means more people take the buses to go places, which means more money spent eating good food, which means more amazing restaurants.
People decide to put up with San Francisco politics because San Francisco is a beautiful city that happens to be the best place to build a career in technology. People stay in NYC for industry as well, but people decide to spend their dollars to live in NYC because it’s a great place to live. It’s also the only real city in America.
Some say that rich people will leave the city if Zohran Mamdani is elected. My question is: where else will they go? For people that have the ability to choose, NYC is the only option. There aren’t many compelling alternatives for people with choice. It’s safe to say that rich aren’t leaving NYC either.
A New Dawn for America Politics
I think that the 2024 Presidential Election marked two moments very clearly: the transformation of the Republican Party to the party of Trump and the death of the modern Democratic party. Zohran Mamdani represents something new. We’re in desperate need a new ideas that inspire people about a world that could be different and better. Specifically, one that voters care about: making housing affordable, making public transportation better, and making the city safer. I think there’s a chance it might actually work this time.
It’s 2025. It’s been 24 years since the twin towers fell. We live so far in post-9/11 America that many voters have no conception of 9/11 in their lifetime. As such, voters have never seen a terrorist attack on U.S. soil and have no reason to be Islamaphobic. The genocide is Gaza is a lot closer to reality than a terror attack that happened before they were born. It turns out there’s nothing wrong with an American mayor that happens to be Muslim.
I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the election roll in tomorrow. In general, it’s been exciting living in a city where things are happening and where people are ambitious enough to try doing radically exciting public policy right. Regardless of the outcome, both of the election and the results of it, I’m optimistic about the future of NYC and by extension of the future of America.