By Douglas V. Gibbs
Within the first week of Zohran Mamdani’s reign as Mayor of New York City, his housing czar, Cea Weaver, revealed, “Our goal is to have the housing actually be worth less. They need to be rent-controlled, and the reason why they need to be rent-controlled is not that, like, rent control is inherently socialist, but because rent control limits the speculative value of the land.” She also has denounced private homeownership, calling it a “weapon of white supremacy” and that “homeownership is racist.” The Mamdani plan is to decrease the number of mom-and-pop landlords in the city – a move that would embolden big corporations. As per his campaign promises, Mayor Mamdani would like to turn all housing into government owned public housing.
When the first big wintery storm hit New York City, Mayor Mamdani announced there would be no traditional snow day…no matter how many inches of snow fell. He ordered, like any good dictator, that school would remain in session, whether in-person or remote, as a massive winter storm hit the area. The Communist Manifesto expresses a clear view regarding education. It must not be interrupted because it is a key tool for social transformation and the dismantling of class power. Education must be free to the masses, and controlled by the state to remove education from the influence of the ruling class and the church – and while it does not specify that it needs to be removed from the influence of the parents, the other communist plans written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels attacking the family would suggest that as well.
Mamdani suspended sanitation services from collecting trash during the snowstorm, leaving neighborhoods buried in garbage and unbearable stench. Along with the build-up of trash which led to armies of scavenging rats, homeless people died in the streets since Mamdani decided not to break up homeless encampments during the winter months. Unplowed snow made transportation a challenge. When Mamdani decided to not break up the encampments, he dissed the Adams’ policy of breaking up the encampments and putting the homeless into temporary indoor quarters. The practice of housing the homeless during freezing temperatures has been a standard procedure in New York City for 40 years. If Mayor Mamdani wanted to put his socialist actions into play, wouldn’t he have offered any of the many of unused rooms and spaces at the city-owned mayoral residence? The city’s paralysis was caused by a combination of weather, and local government’s incompetence under Mamdani.
PJ Media reported that Mayor Mamdani has cancelled the Gifted and Talented (G&T) program for kindergarten with plans to eventually deep-six the special programs for gifted kids for all grade levels. Penalizing excellence is what socialists do. Collectivism’s protocol is equity, disallowing anyone to rise up above others. While the argument is that it is an attempt to protect the feelings of the “underserved,” its true communist nature is that we are all animals in the field for the state, and none of us has any right to think we are more than the other. Communal living does not tolerate winners over anyone else at a lower level. Any programs that reward excellence are an abomination to Mamdani, and must be ended. That’s how socialists keep everything nice and equal. Equality in misery, that is.
Mayor Mamdani signed an executive order to strengthen New York’s sanctuary city status, restricting ICE agents from entering city property such as schools and hospitals. He then stated at an interfaith breakfast that Islam “is built upon a narrative of migration.” He went on to comment that “government can provide the resources.” On The View on January 20, Mamdani declared he wants ICE completely abolished, calling on New Yorkers to obstruct ICE. He also said he plans to prevent ICE from entering New York City without a judicial warrant. We’ll see what the crime statistics looks like once he achieves his sanctuary status paradise.
During the month of January, about 80,000 New Yorkers called 311, the highest monthly total on record, reporting lack of heat and hot water during the frigid temperatures. Tenants reported going up to 8 and 9 days without heat and experiencing overnight shutoffs. The city logged more than 215,000 heat complaints to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development since October 1, with the vast majority of those calls occurring in 2026.
Among Mamdani’s opening salvos were executive orders repealing orders dealing with antisemitism and boycotts of Israel. Mamdani’s orders eliminated the expansion of the definition of anti-Semitism put in place by his predecessor Eric Adams, as well as removing provisions that blocked city employees and agencies from boycotting or divesting from Israel. Criticism against Mamdani over his moves by Jewish groups who have admonished his alignment with pro-Palestinian groups were unleashed. They added it to their list of grievances that includes his use of the phrase, “globalize the intifada.”
Mayor Mamdani in his first month is already running out of other people’s money to fund his socialist plans, and Governor Hochul says he’s not going to get his tax increases without New York’s state legislature blessing the plan. His plan to tax the rich would undoubtedly cause a mass exodus of wealthy and corporate taxpayers from New York City if he could put it in place, as revealed by the mass exodus from California under similar conditions.
Crime in New York City will explode not only because of Mamdani’s sanctuary city policies, but also once Mamdani’s “defund the police” promise goes into action. As for his free subways and buses promise, rides on public transportation are not free… yet. In fact, fares increased in January to around $3 per ride. The MTA is a state authority, and so his free-rides plan requires, like the increase in taxes, approval from state officials.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
