Zo\u2019s fanboying Fiorello.<\/p>\n
Hizzoner Zohran Mamdani keeps evoking the legacy of his predecessor Fiorello La Guardia<\/a>, who guided the city through the Great Depression and is widely considered the greatest mayor in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s latest gushing portrayal of the long-dead former mayor as a role model came as he sat for an extended WNYC interview last week<\/a> titled \u201cLessons from La Guardia \u201d that marked his first 100 days in office.<\/a><\/p>\n Mayor Mamdani celebrated the legacy of his predecessor Fiorello La Guardia in an interview on his first 100 days in office. Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n La Guardia\u2019s vision not only matched the vast crisis facing New Yorkers during the Great Depression, but he also wouldn\u2019t let his ambition be undimmed by the obstacles in his path, Mamdani said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly inspiring, and it continues to be each and every day,\u201d Mamdani rhapsodized. <\/p>\n \u201cHe has said, \u2018If fighting existing evils is radical, I am content with the name.\u2019 And so much of what he faced is a part of politics even today. And when you look back, you find not only the willingness to believe, but frankly to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n But experts warn that drawing comparisons with La Guardia could be a mixed bag, especially because the long-dead mayor didn\u2019t neatly fit into the lefty socialist box in which proud democratic socialist Mamdani is eager to place him.<\/p>\n La Guardia served as mayor<\/a> from 1934 to 1946. He unified the subway system, tackled Tammany Hall corruption, oversaw massive infrastructure projects such as the West Side Highway and allied with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on New Deal projects.<\/p>\n Mamdani has called La Guardia his favorite mayor in the history of New York City and a political idol. Getty Images<\/p>\n The tempestuous mayor was also a Republican who had once run for Congress as a socialist, but never cottoned to strict Marxism. He also butted heads with unions, even as he allied with them.<\/p>\n Bill Cunningham, who served as communications director for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said talk of emulating\u00a0La Guardia\u00a0is one thing, acting like\u00a0the so-called \u201cLittle Flower\u201d is another.<\/p>\n \u201cLa Guardia\u00a0was politically independent. He was the original maverick. He was willing to stand up to his own allies for the good of the city,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n Mamdani began singing La Guardia\u2019s praises on the campaign trail, often describing him as his favorite mayor.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s not alone among mayors and mayoral hopefuls in doing so.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery mayor since\u00a0La Guardia\u00a0has sought to be\u00a0La Guardia,\u201d said George Artz, a political consultant and former aide to ex-Mayor Ed Koch.<\/p>\n Koch admired La Guardia and proudly sat at La Guardia\u2019s desk, although with some comfort issues for his 6-foot-2-inch frame, Artz said.<\/p>\n \u201cKoch was a little taller than\u00a0La Guardia\u00a0so they had to raise the desk,\u201d he said, referring to the 5-foot-2-inch mayor.<\/p>\n While Koch could fill La Guardia\u2019s desk with some help, he arguably couldn\u2019t fill his shoes.<\/p>\n La Guardia waving goodbye to City Hall on his last day in office on Dec. 31, 1945. Bettmann Archive<\/p>\n Generations may have passed since La Guardia\u2019s time, but he still carries an \u201caura\u201d because of his many substantive accomplishments, said Doug Muzzio, a retired Baruch College public affairs professor.<\/p>\n \u201cLa Guardia is probably the most successful mayor of the 20th century. He\u2019s one of the high points of the 20th century,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics<\/a><\/p>\n Mamdani may want to tap into La Guardia\u2019s aura, but he has a long way to go in executing his own agenda, Muzzio said.<\/p>\n Ross Wallenstein, a political operative with a penchant for history, said La Guardia had titanic people and events \u2014 FDR, development czar Robert Moses, the New Deal and the Great Depression \u2014 aligning to help him accomplish big things.<\/p>\n Mamdani said La Guardia\u2019s legacy continues to inspire him every day. Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office<\/p>\n By contrast, Mamdani inherited a gigantic deficit<\/a>, a state legislature in a tough spot, Gov. Kathy Hochul \u2014 with whom he maintains an uneasy alliance \u2014 and the wildcard of President Trump<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not much comparison, at least not after only 100 days,\u201d Wallenstein said.<\/p>\n \u201cNinety years ago, Fiorello LaGuardia \u2014 a former socialist not actually elected as one \u2014 knew how to get big things done and admirably got press for the small things,\u201d he added. \u201cThe 112th mayor might just be comparing himself to the 100th, but being 80 years removed from LaGuardia probably helps. After all, besides the airport, how many New Yorkers know anything about the man himself?\u201d<\/p>\n But Mamdani\u2019s evocations of La Guardia don\u2019t have a downside for the ambitious young mayor, argued Yvette Buckner, a political strategist and lobbyist.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think it normalizes him and shows how they both fight for working families,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd La Guardia\u2019s legacy around affordable housing is still very present today. I think this is what Mamdani is trying to capture for his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe he wants an airport named after him one day,\u201d she also quipped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zo\u2019s fanboying Fiorello. Hizzoner Zohran Mamdani keeps evoking the legacy of his predecessor Fiorello La Guardia, who guided…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[881,1092,57,9,24,55,54,56,63,58,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-211039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-history","9":"tag-mayor","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-us-news","18":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211039","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=211039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}