{"id":1871,"date":"2025-10-14T16:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1871\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T16:34:11","slug":"new-yorkers-must-save-the-city-of-dreams-from-mamdanis-socialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1871\/","title":{"rendered":"New Yorkers must save the city of dreams from Mamdani\u2019s socialism"},"content":{"rendered":"

This isn\u2019t an endorsement. None is necessary. Even a third grader can see what\u2019s at stake in\u00a0New York City\u2019s mayoral election<\/a>. This is now a two-candidate race between Zohran Mamdani (D) and Andrew Cuomo. The opportunity is now. The urgency is real.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Curtis Sliwa (R) is probably a decent candidate anywhere else. But this is New York. He\u2019s a Republican in a Democratic stronghold, and he\u00a0doesn\u2019t enjoy the support<\/a>\u00a0of President Trump \u2014 meaning his narrow pathway is closed. Sliwa means well, but he can\u2019t win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So we are left with a stark choice, and the stakes could not be higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York is about to hand the keys to City Hall to a man whose greatest skill is manipulating algorithms. Mamdani has built a digital propaganda machine that would make any authoritarian proud. He runs on viral moments and manufactured outrage, not results. That might work for influencers, but it\u2019s a recipe for disaster when you\u2019re running a city of\u00a0over 8 million people<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York is not ready for his radical experiment. He would dismantle the city\u2019s cultural fabric that has taken 250 years to build. Worse, he doesn\u2019t have the experience. You can\u2019t just go from riding in a plane to flying a 787. He\u2019s too young, too raw, and too na\u00efve about what makes this city work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And unlike every mayor before him, he\u2019ll never have to face real accountability \u2014 his social media army has been trained to attack critics, not question their leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani seems like a decent guy, but his policies would raise taxes, make our streets less safe, decimate New York\u2019s economic base and drive out businesses. He is on the record as\u00a0anti-NYPD<\/a>, a\u00a0harsh critic of Israel<\/a>, and\u00a0he has floated the abolition of private property<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is far too comfortable in the\u00a0company of antisemites<\/a>\u00a0and he won\u2019t back away from his own calls, using the language of terrorism, to \u201cglobalize the intifada. He is bankrolled by a radical network that doesn\u2019t believe in America or the freedoms that made this country great.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not just bad politics \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous. Lock your doors, New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His\u00a0proposals<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 rent freezes, free buses, city-owned groceries,\u00a0200,000 new government housing units<\/a>\u00a0on top of the New York City Housing Authority\u2019s\u00a0more than 177,000<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 would supposedly be funded by tax hikes on millionaires and corporations. But this will just drive them all to Florida, leaving the bill for the middle class.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s followers don\u2019t understand what the New York City Housing Authority is. They don\u2019t understand municipal bonds. They\u2019ll vote for revolution because it got 4 million views.<\/p>\n

Being mayor isn\u2019t a Tik Tok video. It means solving real problems: crime, housing, homelessness, jobs. It means managing a budget bigger than that of most states. The state of New York already faces a\u00a0$3 billion deficit<\/a>, and our economic base is packing its bags. Viral moments won\u2019t replace serious solutions. By the time his followers realize the rent freeze destroyed housing construction, the algorithm will have moved on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrew Cuomo paid his price. Nobody\u2019s perfect. He faced the consequences. But he\u2019s done the job. He has governed through crises, kept the economy growing and balanced budgets.<\/p>\n

On housing \u2014 the issue New Yorkers care about most \u2014 he has unmatched experience: governor, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, nonprofit housing leader. He has the skills to deliver real solutions, not empty promises. Three times, New Yorkers elected him governor. That matters.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to like or forgive Cuomo, but this is about preventing disaster. You can hold your nose, cast your vote and go back to criticizing him tomorrow. That\u2019s how democracy works when the alternative is unthinkable.<\/p>\n

At some point, Sliwa will likely step aside. But even if he doesn\u2019t, the real choice is clear: A proven leader who has navigated crises and delivered results, or a digital demagogue who has built a cult of personality disguised as a movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it turns out, more and more New Yorkers are agreeing. Even people who can\u2019t stand Cuomo are quietly saying they\u2019ll vote for him because the stakes are too high. That\u2019s when you know this is real \u2014 despite the polls, Cuomo can win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is urgent. If you are a citizen of this city, this election matters to you. Sober up, look at the facts \u2014 just the facts \u2014 and use your common sense and get out and vote. Because if you don\u2019t, what you\u2019ll be left with isn\u2019t just bad governance. It\u2019s an experiment in viral authoritarianism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the time the algorithm moves on to the next trend, the damage will be permanent. And what you\u2019ll have lost \u2014 accountability, institutions, democratic norms \u2014 you won\u2019t get back for a generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earle\u00a0Mack\u00a0is a former United States ambassador to Finland.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This isn\u2019t an endorsement. None is necessary. Even a third grader can see what\u2019s at stake in\u00a0New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2404,80,9,24,55,54,56,82],"class_list":["post-1871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-2025-new-york-city-mayoral-race","tag-andrew-cuomo","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}