Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani made several big promises along the campaign trail, including free buses and universal child care. Keeping some of those promises will be difficult, because it’s not entirely up to him.
Mamdani’s promises
Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa by promising voters significant social reforms. Along with taxpayer-funded buses and child care, Mamdani said he plans to raise billions of dollars for housing, freeze rent for rent-stabilized tenants, raise the minimum wage and even open government-run grocery stores.
“Everywhere I go, I hear New Yorkers talking about the outrageous prices of groceries,” Mamdani said in an interview with The New York Times. “This is a bold and workable plan.”
Mamdani’s plans will cost billions of dollars. The source of that funding is where he could run into some issues.
Follow the money
“In reality, if he had wanted to accomplish some of these big picture items, he would have had to run for governor,” Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told Straight Arrow News…