The stroke of midnight on Wednesday will bring joy and revelry throughout Times Square as the Big Apple ushers in a new year. Just a few minutes after the ball drops, early Thursday morning, the city also enters a brand new era of politics.
Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1. A year ago, not many people believed the Queens democratic socialist would ever reach such a height — but here he comes, ready or not.
Mamdani was carried to the very top of city government on a campaign rooted in affordability, with lofty promises ranging from creating a fare-free bus system to freezing rent for stabilized tenants and launching city-owned grocery stores to lower the cost of food.
The rubber will soon meet the road on whether incoming Mayor Mamdani will fulfill these promises while also managing a colossal city budget — which exceeded $118 billion this year, and has a projected budget gap of up to $8 billion to fill by June 30 — and the various external pressures of state and federal governments. Achieving what he wants will be even tougher if Gov. Kathy Hochul stays true to her word and rejects the kind of tax increases on the wealthy that Mamdani wants in order to fund his platform.
Our hope for the new mayor is that he can find a way to achieve a better, more affordable New York for everyone, without leaving people behind, and without upending the status quo to such a degree that New York falls into even further trouble.
This is a city of dramatic dichotomies — we are, at once, home to some of the wealthiest people in the world, but also have 25% of the population living below the poverty line. We are the economic capital of the world, yet so many struggle to make ends meet.
The challenges we face are not insurmountable, and remedies can be found without pushing away big businesses and enterprises that fuel our city’s economy — or by further taxing the middle classes and giving them one final reason to flee the Big Apple.
Mayor Mamdani, if he is to be a successful mayor, will recognize this and govern with the proper, shrewd balance needed to manage a city of this size and uplift those who need the most help. He will be successful by also continuing to welcome new and existing investment, and keeping the city safe, strong and prosperous for everyone.
Many New Yorkers disagree with Mamdani’s politics and beliefs, notably his positions on Israel. We have not been shy in voicing our own concerns and disagreements with him — and we will not be shy in voicing them when new ones arise in the next four years.
But we recognize that with every mayor, their success is ours — provided that such success leaves the city in a better place than when the mayor took office. Here’s hoping Mayor Mamdani succeeds in this way by the time the ball drops on Times Square in 2027.
