From January 1, 2026, New York will be governed by a Mayor who defines
himself as a socialist and is Muslim by culture and religion: Zohran
Mamdani, 34, the youngest person elected to this office in many years,
triumphed in the municipal elections, becoming Mayor of the city home to
the world's largest Jewish population, New York City. A survey of the
vote shows that voters under 40 were the most likely to vote for him,
and that participation in the elections was double that of previous
elections. This choice represents a historic turning point for the
United States and for the city, considering that Mamdani was born in
Uganda to a Ugandan father and an Indian mother, making him an immigrant
who defeated former Democratic Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo-perhaps
because he had also received the endorsement of US President Donald
Trump and Elon Musk-as well as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. The
victory was facilitated by the crisis of the Democratic Party, incapable
of finding credible candidates to counter Trump's populist rhetoric, and
therefore represents a defeat not only for the Republicans but also for
those Democrats who represent a carbon copy of traditional Republicans.
Vice President Vance's propaganda, which aimed to gain the support of
poor whites, now a minority in the cosmopolitan city of New York, also
found no room. This was a sign that shared poverty, a shared social
standard, allows us to overcome prejudice and racial difference, skin
color, the linguistic and national clan structure of migrant
communities, the very fabric of traditional US society.
It must be said that the newly elected candidate is no stranger to the
cultural elite, born into the country with a mother who is a film
director, a father who is a university professor, and a wife who is a
marketing expert and who organizes his election campaign thanks to her
skills in communications techniques. Thanks to these connections,
Mamdani was able to gain the support, albeit informally, of figures such
as Barack Obama and prominent figures such as Bernie Sanders and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He took care of the propaganda methods and concrete proposals, focusing
his electoral campaign on economic sustainability for the city's
residents. The program includes ambitious measures such as free buses,
municipal supermarkets, rent controls, and tax increases for the
wealthiest citizens. This allowed him to envision a "new era" of
political transformation and hope for the future for the city's
residents, emphasizing that New York is diverse and profoundly
multiethnic. He pledged to defend all citizens, condemning anti-Semitism
and the instrumental use of discrimination.
He concluded his speech by stating: "For as long as we can remember, the
rich and wealthy have always told working people in New York that the
power is not in their hands... You dared to bet on something bigger.
Tonight, against all odds, we achieved it. The future is in our hands."
"In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light."
Mamdani's election campaign
But how did Mamdani get so many people, especially young people, to
vote? To understand this, we need to look at his methods of political
propaganda, which rely primarily on personal action and physical
participation in protest initiatives. Mamdani developed his electoral
propaganda for over a year, participating in the struggles of New York
citizens, such as that of taxi drivers, fasting with them, attending
their demonstrations (even getting stopped by the police), and enduring
the discomfort of nights spent out in the cold: in fact, he is much
loved by taxi drivers. He addressed the most minute issues, such as
basic food security for the Muslim community, and others who eat halal
food-food that has become increasingly expensive due to uncontrolled and
uncontrollable increases in raw materials. Mamdani promised action on
this issue, and the electorate believed him. Just as they believed his
promise to freeze rents for four years, the duration of his term, in a
city where housing costs have become impossible to afford, even for
those with good salaries.
To support his campaign, Mamdani built a diverse coalition made up of
young people in central neighborhoods like Bushwick and Williamsburg,
South Asian immigrants in Queens, and working-class Black and Latino
communities in the Bronx and Brooklyn. This widespread local
organization allowed him to win four of the five boroughs into which New
York City is divided. This widespread organization impacted his
campaign, which was supported by small donations that more than matched
the large donations received by Cuomo, his opponent in the Democratic
primary. Cuomo, defeated, chose to run as an independent with the
support of Trump and wealthy donors.
The Platform
In his platform, Mamdani promised a rent freeze, free public
transportation, and universal preschool, funded by taxes on the
wealthy-all measures designed to combat inflation and improve the
quality of life.
His electoral platform aims to make the city affordable and livable,
given that the average rent for a studio apartment in New York exceeds
$3,400. One of his first measures is to cap rents and freeze them for at
least four years, the duration of his term. This measure-already adopted
in the past by Mayor Di-affects over a million stabilized apartments.
To address the rising cost of transportation, Mamdani has promised free
buses and subways, at an estimated cost ranging between $630 million and
$1 billion annually.
Taking into account the growing difficulties of families, the new mayor
has promised free universal daycare and the creation of a Department of
Community Safety to deploy mental health workers instead of police to
address emergencies and address social hardship.
Taking on board the rising cost of living and rising inflation, the
mayor has promised to open at least five municipal supermarkets that
sell food at wholesale prices to control the food market. He intends to
raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.
To finance his program, he proposes a 2% tax on incomes over $1 million
and an 11.5% tax on corporations, generating $9 billion, according to a
Bloomberg estimate.
Mamdani is neither naive nor stupid: he knows he doesn't have all the
power necessary to implement his agenda, but he has developed a strategy
that combines the tools he has at his disposal with a political strategy.
Regarding rent control, Mamdani plans to pressure the Rent Guidelines
Board to freeze prices for rent-controlled units next year, strengthened
by the fact that the Mayor appoints all nine members of this Board,
which decides on annual adjustments for rent-controlled apartments. He
also appoints the majority of the members of the New York City Planning
Commission, giving him jurisdiction over issues such as policy and
land-use developments.
Regarding free transportation, Mamdani may face difficulties because
applying the same strategy of influencing through a management body
would run into the fact that City Hall has a minority vote on the Board
of Directors of the Metropolitan Transport Authority, a difficulty he
hopes to overcome with resources from collected taxes.
Regarding the promise to guarantee public preschool and kindergarten for
children under 6, the project would be funded primarily by taxes on the
ultra-wealthy.
To achieve this, Zobran Mamdani would like, as previously mentioned, to
raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey's 11.5%. This measure
alone could raise $5 billion, while the measure on individuals earning
more than $1 million would be taxed at an additional 2% income tax,
which he estimates will generate $4 billion.
Mamdani is well aware that New York State has the right to veto the tax
changes adopted by the Mayor, and that centrist Democratic Governor
Kathy Hochul, running for re-election next year, has already ruled out
taxing the wealthy. But precisely on this point, Mamdani is willing to
engage in a no-holds-barred battle that is both politically motivated
toward the Republican Party and, even more so, aimed at striking at
those timid Democrats who believe, through a moderate platform, they can
capture and maintain middle-class support and defeat the Republicans. In
other words, Mamdani, as a good socialist, believes that victory is
achieved by pursuing left-wing, not centrist, policies.
The Enemies
That said, it's understandable why Trump has launched threats to deprive
New York of all funding and to have him arrested if he persists in
declaring that he will have Netanyahu arrested if he comes to New York.
He even threatened to deport him if he opposed Trump's policy of
persecuting migrants, even though the mayor is an American citizen who
arrived in the country at the age of seven. In response, Mamdani
challenged the president in his acceptance speech, saying that New York
is a city of migrants, that it thrives on migrants, that it was built by
migrants, that it is inhabited by migrants and will remain so. Trump,
for his part, noted Mamdani's popularity and ability to welcome him to
the White House and negotiate a sort of truce with him.
Despite these overtures, the mainstream press, along with President
Trump, has emphasized that the response of New York's wealthy
ultra-millionaires will be to abandon the city, as some of them have
already done, and that New York will therefore find itself deprived of
the support of its wealthiest taxpayers. This threat is only partially
real because New York is home to Wall Street, an irreplaceable financial
and business center, and therefore the city's "allure" will entice many
to stay. Furthermore, it's worth remembering that Mamdani, despite being
a socialist, is no stranger to the New York elite, so much so that he
was spotted in the company of Soros's son. However, even the Democrats
fear him, as evidenced by Obama's offer to help influence him. His true
intentions will become clear if he replaces the Metropolitan Police
Chief, currently under the command of Mrs. Tish, who comes from a
wealthy Jewish family and, more importantly, is a Zionist. She is
responsible for the shameful treatment of all those protesting in
defense of Palestinian rights.
His Italian admirers should think twice before supporting the new Mayor,
because, inclined as they are to look to the center, essentially
cowardly and inconsistent, they may find themselves forced to support
positions incompatible with their cowardice and their atavistic
opportunism. Because Mamdani teaches: you win on the left, not in the
center.
G. C.
https://www.ucadi.org/2025/11/30/un-socialista-sindaco-di-new-york/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
himself as a socialist and is Muslim by culture and religion: Zohran
Mamdani, 34, the youngest person elected to this office in many years,
triumphed in the municipal elections, becoming Mayor of the city home to
the world's largest Jewish population, New York City. A survey of the
vote shows that voters under 40 were the most likely to vote for him,
and that participation in the elections was double that of previous
elections. This choice represents a historic turning point for the
United States and for the city, considering that Mamdani was born in
Uganda to a Ugandan father and an Indian mother, making him an immigrant
who defeated former Democratic Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo-perhaps
because he had also received the endorsement of US President Donald
Trump and Elon Musk-as well as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. The
victory was facilitated by the crisis of the Democratic Party, incapable
of finding credible candidates to counter Trump's populist rhetoric, and
therefore represents a defeat not only for the Republicans but also for
those Democrats who represent a carbon copy of traditional Republicans.
Vice President Vance's propaganda, which aimed to gain the support of
poor whites, now a minority in the cosmopolitan city of New York, also
found no room. This was a sign that shared poverty, a shared social
standard, allows us to overcome prejudice and racial difference, skin
color, the linguistic and national clan structure of migrant
communities, the very fabric of traditional US society.
It must be said that the newly elected candidate is no stranger to the
cultural elite, born into the country with a mother who is a film
director, a father who is a university professor, and a wife who is a
marketing expert and who organizes his election campaign thanks to her
skills in communications techniques. Thanks to these connections,
Mamdani was able to gain the support, albeit informally, of figures such
as Barack Obama and prominent figures such as Bernie Sanders and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He took care of the propaganda methods and concrete proposals, focusing
his electoral campaign on economic sustainability for the city's
residents. The program includes ambitious measures such as free buses,
municipal supermarkets, rent controls, and tax increases for the
wealthiest citizens. This allowed him to envision a "new era" of
political transformation and hope for the future for the city's
residents, emphasizing that New York is diverse and profoundly
multiethnic. He pledged to defend all citizens, condemning anti-Semitism
and the instrumental use of discrimination.
He concluded his speech by stating: "For as long as we can remember, the
rich and wealthy have always told working people in New York that the
power is not in their hands... You dared to bet on something bigger.
Tonight, against all odds, we achieved it. The future is in our hands."
"In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light."
Mamdani's election campaign
But how did Mamdani get so many people, especially young people, to
vote? To understand this, we need to look at his methods of political
propaganda, which rely primarily on personal action and physical
participation in protest initiatives. Mamdani developed his electoral
propaganda for over a year, participating in the struggles of New York
citizens, such as that of taxi drivers, fasting with them, attending
their demonstrations (even getting stopped by the police), and enduring
the discomfort of nights spent out in the cold: in fact, he is much
loved by taxi drivers. He addressed the most minute issues, such as
basic food security for the Muslim community, and others who eat halal
food-food that has become increasingly expensive due to uncontrolled and
uncontrollable increases in raw materials. Mamdani promised action on
this issue, and the electorate believed him. Just as they believed his
promise to freeze rents for four years, the duration of his term, in a
city where housing costs have become impossible to afford, even for
those with good salaries.
To support his campaign, Mamdani built a diverse coalition made up of
young people in central neighborhoods like Bushwick and Williamsburg,
South Asian immigrants in Queens, and working-class Black and Latino
communities in the Bronx and Brooklyn. This widespread local
organization allowed him to win four of the five boroughs into which New
York City is divided. This widespread organization impacted his
campaign, which was supported by small donations that more than matched
the large donations received by Cuomo, his opponent in the Democratic
primary. Cuomo, defeated, chose to run as an independent with the
support of Trump and wealthy donors.
The Platform
In his platform, Mamdani promised a rent freeze, free public
transportation, and universal preschool, funded by taxes on the
wealthy-all measures designed to combat inflation and improve the
quality of life.
His electoral platform aims to make the city affordable and livable,
given that the average rent for a studio apartment in New York exceeds
$3,400. One of his first measures is to cap rents and freeze them for at
least four years, the duration of his term. This measure-already adopted
in the past by Mayor Di-affects over a million stabilized apartments.
To address the rising cost of transportation, Mamdani has promised free
buses and subways, at an estimated cost ranging between $630 million and
$1 billion annually.
Taking into account the growing difficulties of families, the new mayor
has promised free universal daycare and the creation of a Department of
Community Safety to deploy mental health workers instead of police to
address emergencies and address social hardship.
Taking on board the rising cost of living and rising inflation, the
mayor has promised to open at least five municipal supermarkets that
sell food at wholesale prices to control the food market. He intends to
raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030.
To finance his program, he proposes a 2% tax on incomes over $1 million
and an 11.5% tax on corporations, generating $9 billion, according to a
Bloomberg estimate.
Mamdani is neither naive nor stupid: he knows he doesn't have all the
power necessary to implement his agenda, but he has developed a strategy
that combines the tools he has at his disposal with a political strategy.
Regarding rent control, Mamdani plans to pressure the Rent Guidelines
Board to freeze prices for rent-controlled units next year, strengthened
by the fact that the Mayor appoints all nine members of this Board,
which decides on annual adjustments for rent-controlled apartments. He
also appoints the majority of the members of the New York City Planning
Commission, giving him jurisdiction over issues such as policy and
land-use developments.
Regarding free transportation, Mamdani may face difficulties because
applying the same strategy of influencing through a management body
would run into the fact that City Hall has a minority vote on the Board
of Directors of the Metropolitan Transport Authority, a difficulty he
hopes to overcome with resources from collected taxes.
Regarding the promise to guarantee public preschool and kindergarten for
children under 6, the project would be funded primarily by taxes on the
ultra-wealthy.
To achieve this, Zobran Mamdani would like, as previously mentioned, to
raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey's 11.5%. This measure
alone could raise $5 billion, while the measure on individuals earning
more than $1 million would be taxed at an additional 2% income tax,
which he estimates will generate $4 billion.
Mamdani is well aware that New York State has the right to veto the tax
changes adopted by the Mayor, and that centrist Democratic Governor
Kathy Hochul, running for re-election next year, has already ruled out
taxing the wealthy. But precisely on this point, Mamdani is willing to
engage in a no-holds-barred battle that is both politically motivated
toward the Republican Party and, even more so, aimed at striking at
those timid Democrats who believe, through a moderate platform, they can
capture and maintain middle-class support and defeat the Republicans. In
other words, Mamdani, as a good socialist, believes that victory is
achieved by pursuing left-wing, not centrist, policies.
The Enemies
That said, it's understandable why Trump has launched threats to deprive
New York of all funding and to have him arrested if he persists in
declaring that he will have Netanyahu arrested if he comes to New York.
He even threatened to deport him if he opposed Trump's policy of
persecuting migrants, even though the mayor is an American citizen who
arrived in the country at the age of seven. In response, Mamdani
challenged the president in his acceptance speech, saying that New York
is a city of migrants, that it thrives on migrants, that it was built by
migrants, that it is inhabited by migrants and will remain so. Trump,
for his part, noted Mamdani's popularity and ability to welcome him to
the White House and negotiate a sort of truce with him.
Despite these overtures, the mainstream press, along with President
Trump, has emphasized that the response of New York's wealthy
ultra-millionaires will be to abandon the city, as some of them have
already done, and that New York will therefore find itself deprived of
the support of its wealthiest taxpayers. This threat is only partially
real because New York is home to Wall Street, an irreplaceable financial
and business center, and therefore the city's "allure" will entice many
to stay. Furthermore, it's worth remembering that Mamdani, despite being
a socialist, is no stranger to the New York elite, so much so that he
was spotted in the company of Soros's son. However, even the Democrats
fear him, as evidenced by Obama's offer to help influence him. His true
intentions will become clear if he replaces the Metropolitan Police
Chief, currently under the command of Mrs. Tish, who comes from a
wealthy Jewish family and, more importantly, is a Zionist. She is
responsible for the shameful treatment of all those protesting in
defense of Palestinian rights.
His Italian admirers should think twice before supporting the new Mayor,
because, inclined as they are to look to the center, essentially
cowardly and inconsistent, they may find themselves forced to support
positions incompatible with their cowardice and their atavistic
opportunism. Because Mamdani teaches: you win on the left, not in the
center.
G. C.
https://www.ucadi.org/2025/11/30/un-socialista-sindaco-di-new-york/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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