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  • MAMDANI’S FIRST 100 DAYS: City secures $2.1M settlement with landlord of 14 buildings – amNewYork

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    Friday, Jan. 16, marks the 16th day of Zohran Mamdani’s term as mayor. amNewYork is following Mamdani around his first 100 days in office as we closely track his progress on fulfilling campaign promises, appointing key leaders to government posts, and managing the city’s finances. Here’s a summary of what the mayor did today.

    The City has secured a $2.1 million settlement with a landlord responsible for 14 buildings across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, addressing more than 4,000 building code violations and allegations of tenant harassment.

    The settlement, announced Friday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, comes shortly after it was finalized by a judge in early January and signals the city’s intention to use the case as a model for holding negligent landlords accountable.

    The settlement covers multiple legal actions and requires the landlord to correct the hazardous conditions and comply with court-issued injunctions preventing further tenant harassment.

    While negotiations and initial enforcement took place under the previous administration, city officials emphasized that the Mamdani administration will actively use such settlements to advance tenant protections and ensure safe, livable housing.

    “Every tenant in New York City has a right to a safe and livable home, and our administration intends to use enforcement tools like these to deliver exactly that,” Mayor Mamdani said. “This settlement will provide relief for tenants who have long suffered from poor conditions and harassment, and demonstrates the type of accountability we will continue to pursue across the city.”

    Queens Council Member Shekar Krishnan, whose district includes the highest concentration of affected properties in Jackson Heights, praised tenants, advocacy groups, and city enforcement.

    Council member Shekar KrishnanPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell

    “Every repair we’ve won leaves us with ten more to fight for — their buildings are revolving doors of neglect and major housing violations,” he said. “I’m thankful that Mayor Mamdani and [the Department of Housing Preservation and Development] HPD, on day 16 of the new era, are signaling a new approach to protecting tenants.”

    Tenant Diana de la Pava, who has lived in one of the buildings for more than 13 years, detailed chronic elevator outages, mold, pests, and other unsafe conditions affecting elderly and disabled residents.

    She described how broken elevators effectively trapped some residents and contributed to preventable health crises. “This is not a communication failure. It is a business model for A & E,” she said during the press conference.

    A & E Realty responded with a statement saying it reached the settlement in collaboration with the city. The company noted that it has invested in rehabbing elevators, replacing boilers, and addressing longstanding violations across its portfolio, and added that it is delivering on a repair plan agreed with HPD.

    “We look forward to partnering with the City to improve the lives of our residents and continue investing in New York City’s housing stock,” a spokesperson said.

    Incoming Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    HPD officials highlighted that the settlement represents the largest in the Anti-Harassment Unit’s history.

    Over the course of litigation, more than 1,000 violations have already been corrected, with nearly $500,000 in additional emergency repairs made. The city stressed that its enforcement tools include civil contempt motions, emergency repairs, and injunctions to prevent tenant harassment, demonstrating a proactive approach to holding landlords accountable.

    The Mamdani administration plans to use this case as a template for future enforcement actions, including upcoming “rental rip-off” hearings in all five boroughs within the first 100 days. The hearings are designed to give tenants a direct voice in shaping housing policy, tracking violations, and ensuring landlords are held accountable in real time.

    Incoming Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy said, “By holding bad actors accountable, we are making it clear that no landlord will escape the consequences of violating the Housing Maintenance Code. Tenants should not have to fight day in and day out for basic services — these are fundamental rights.”

    Budget: Trash trucks to tax hikes

    Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

    As new sanitation workers were sworn in on Friday, Mayor Mamdani praised the municipal workforce for keeping New York running through long hours, extreme weather, and often unseen work — a reminder of the city’s reliance on essential services even as officials confront mounting fiscal pressures.

    “New York City cannot function without the work that each of you will be doing,” Mamdani told graduates and their families gathered in One Police Plaza. He called sanitation workers “unsung heroes” whose efforts maintain core services day in and day out, from snow removal to street cleaning. 

    “You have something that few others hold, whether in the city or in this world, a noble purpose. It is the purpose of restoring dignity to the lives of your neighbors, the purpose of making New York new, “Mamdani said, before paying tribute to Brian Dunn, who passed away due to a medical emergency while on duty in the Bronx on Jan. 7.

    The graduation ceremony was led by interim Sanitation Commissioner Javier Lojan, who served under former mayor Eric Adams and was retained by Mamdani to oversee the department through the winter, ensuring continuity of essential services as new workers join the ranks.

    Hours earlier, Comptroller Mark Levine released a new analysis projecting a $2.2 billion budget shortfall in fiscal year 2026 and a $10.4 billion gap the following year — the largest late-cycle deficits the city has faced since the Great Recession. Levine said the gaps are not the result of an economic downturn, but of spending decisions made under the previous mayoral administration of Eric Adams.

    “This wasn’t caused by a bad economy — it’s the result of budgeting decisions from the previous administration that we must now deal with,” Levine said.

    Responding to Levine’s assessment in a statement and during a press briefing later in the day, Mamdani agreed the city faces a serious fiscal challenge, while placing responsibility on both his predecessor and state leadership of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

    He cited what he described as fiscal mismanagement by the prior administration and a long-standing imbalance in the city’s financial relationship with the state, arguing that New York City contributes a disproportionate share of state tax revenue in return for what it receives.

    “We cannot have it such that a New Yorker would go to sleep on a Friday and wonder if on a Saturday their basic services will be in doubt,” Mamdani said at a press conference in Queens, saying he had inheritied a City Hall from Adams that “exhibited incredible fiscal mismanagement, but also a decades long effort from former Governor Cuomo to pilfer from city coffers at each and every turn.”

    “And what that has left this city with is, as described by the comptroller, not only a fiscal hole, but frankly, a relationship between city and state, where the city contributes 54.5% of the state’s tax revenues, but only receives. 40.5% in return,” he continued. 

    Mamdani said his administration would press Albany to address this imbalance as budget negotiations move forward. To help close projected gaps and fund major policy initiatives, he has proposed raising taxes, backing an increase in the state’s corporate tax rate for large companies to 11.5%, up from 7.25%, and additional income taxes on New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul has ruled out raising taxes on high-income earners in this year’s state budget, though she has left open the possibility of changes to corporate income taxes. She did not propose any tax increases in her State of the State address earlier this week.

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    Adam Daly

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  • Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

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    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.

    Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.

    “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.

    The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.

    In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.

    The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.

    Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

    Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.

    In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

    In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

    But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

    Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

    He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

    Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

    Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

    Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.

    He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

    During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

    But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

    “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

    Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

    Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

    The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.

    That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

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  • Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station

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    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

    Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.

    Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America’s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath.

    “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said in a brief speech.

    The ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city’s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.

    In Mamdani’s first speech as mayor, he said the old subway station was a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.

    The new mayor then closed: “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs.

    Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes. That will be followed by what the new administration is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

    Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics as one of the country’s most-watched politicians.

    In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

    In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

    But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.

    Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.

    He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.

    Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.

    Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.

    Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city.

    He’ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump.

    During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.

    But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.

    “I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.

    Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.

    Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.

    The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government.

    That included persuading the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position — a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.

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  • Zohran Mamdani’s Next Act

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    Photo: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

    The secret fear of the loudest die-hard critics of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is not that he will fail as the city’s leader but that he has a very good chance of succeeding. If the new administration demonstrates it can deliver on its promise to lower the cost of living while managing our city efficiently and keeping the streets safe, it will become clear that the fearmongers who have been screaming warnings about a coming municipal apocalypse were peddling nonsense all along.

    We had nearly a year of discussion and debate before voters gave the go-head to Mamdani’s core four promises: freeze the rent, expand early education, make buses fast and free, and open one government-owned grocery store in each borough to help ease New York’s endemic hunger problem. “The residents of the city have spoken, and it’s been very clear, and they’ve done it in amazing numbers, and their response to the Mamdani campaign is that this has to happen,” Dean Fuleihan, a veteran government manager who will be Mamdani’s first deputy mayor, told me. “So I don’t see it as a question of choice.”

    Fuliehan also points out that naysayers have been wrong before. “You and I have actually witnessed many times when someone said or commented, ‘Can’t be done,’ and then three months later, it gets done,” he said. “I was part of [creating] universal pre-K with Mayor de Blasio, and everybody said it could not happen. Could not happen in the education department; it would take five years. The then-governor of New York said, ‘Impossible. Start with a pilot.’ And it happened in two years.”

    Fuliehan’s smooth confidence, the product of decades spent in state and local government, stands in contrast to the sky-is-falling prognostication of many New York leaders, who ought to know better. “If the city of New York is going socialist, I will definitely close, or sell, or move or franchise the Gristedes locations,” billionaire John Catsimatidis, the owner of the Gristedes chain, told Fox Business.

    That is an absurd overreaction to Mamdani’s proposal to open five government-owned grocery stores in so-called food deserts. An estimated 1.8 million New Yorkers already rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, including 40 percent of Bronx residents, and more than 500 soup kitchens and pantries around the city also try to fill the gap. Mamdani’s proposal to open one outlet in each borough – essentially, five more food pantries – will in no way affect the profits or losses of Castsimatidis’s 17 supermarkets.

    “I love New York. I will never move from New York, but there’s a lot of other people that will and are leaving New York,” Neil Blumenthal, the founder and CEO of the Warby Parker eyeglasses empire, told the Free Press. “Then there are others that will never even become New Yorkers because the cost of living is just too high. We’re one election away from becoming San Francisco.”

    Another worried rich man, billionaire Bill Ackman, who has made one laughably wrong call after another about New York politics this year, predicted before the election that “if Mamdani becomes the mayor of New York, you’re going to see the flight of businesses from New York. Most of the businesses that operate in New York City in the financial sector are incredibly portable.”

    Individual families or companies may pull up stakes, the way Ken Giffien moved the financial giant Citadel from Chicago to Miami and Elon Musk shifted Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas, but cases like these run counter to broader data showing that the rich, as a group, generally do not move around the country chasing low income-tax rates. An exhaustive 2016 study by researchers at Stanford University and the U.S. Treasury Department tracked the tax records and movements of every millionaire in America for 13 years and concluded, “Millionaires are not very mobile and actually have lower migration rates than the general population. This is in part because family responsibilities and business ownership are higher among top income-earners, which embeds individuals in their local regions.” More to the point, the study says, “their elite income itself embeds them in place: millionaires are not searching for economic opportunity — they have found it.”

    A similar study by the Fiscal Policy Institute found that 2,400 millionaire households moved out of New York during the pandemic years of 2020 to 2023 — but the state gained 17,500 millionaire households over the same period.  “High earners do not move in response to tax increases,” the study found. “Out-migration for those most impacted by recent effective tax increases (in 2017 and 2021) did not increase significantly in response to the tax increases.”

    And if we’re looking at particular cases, let’s not forget that Jamie Dimon, the CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, just cut the ribbon on a new $4 billion headquarters on Park Avenue this year; Google opened a new $2.1 billion headquarters last year. They and other big-money firms are staying put because they know that the secret of New York’s trillion-dollar annual output is the army of young, talented professionals, artists, and scientists who grow up in our city or flock here from every corner of the globe. Mamdani has promised to help these folks find their footing in New York, whatever it takes.

    “The affordability crisis was top of mind for folks and challenged everyone else in the race to speak to that, and no one spoke to it as well as he did,” Mamdani’s campaign manager, Maya Handa, told me. “People are unhappy and people are angry, and they feel like the system has screwed them over, and [Mamdani showed] a willingness to really call that out in an honest and authentic way and really say we should not be afraid to tax the rich, we should not be afraid to redistribute some of that wealth so that people can live a life of dignity. I just think that message spoke to folks.”

    That blame-the-rich rhetoric has some elites worried. New York’s high-earning families, by and large, work hard, spend freely, and donate tons of money to charity. They aren’t used to being criticized by anybody, and certainly not by the activated army of pro-Mamdani young New Yorkers. But they should get used to it: If Mamdani succeeds, it will be more clear than ever that the city’s public- and private-sector leaders should have addressed New York’s affordability crisis long before now.

    Above all, says Morris Katz, a campaign strategist who served as a senior adviser to Mamdani, New Yorkers should stop listening to the doomsayers. “They’re the same people who said in April that he would never win a Democratic primary, the same people who said nine months before that, that he will never even be viable, the same people who said it would all crumble in a general election,” Katz told me. “Zohran demands a culture of excellence. He pursues excellence relentlessly. And it was that culture that took the campaign from polling at 1 percent to defeating and toppling a political dynasty. And I think it’s gonna be that same culture of excellence that delivers this agenda in City Hall. And it’s going to be some of those same people with egg on their face.”

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    Errol Louis

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  • ‘Build a FL border wall’: DeSantis mocks Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral win

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    Credit: Shutterstock

    Before Tuesday’s elections in other states, Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly said a win in the New York City mayor’s race by Democrat Zohran Mamdani would be a boon for Florida real-estate agents as New Yorkers would move.

    After Mamdani’s dominant win Tuesday, DeSantis continued the trolling by posting a poll asking how Florida should respond: “Build a FL border wall” “Tariff all transplants” or “Recruit new transplants.”

    The poll closed Thursday morning with 45,282 responses. The border-wall proposal got more than 48 percent. Tariffs were second.

    When state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, posted online that “Florida should tariff everyone fleeing NYC,” DeSantis replied, “Have you filed that bill?”

    Meanwhile, Republican state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia called Mamdani’s victory “a sad day for NYC.”

    “The ‘Big Apple’ is now government issued and will be rationed accordingly,” Ingoglia posted on X.

    But Florida Democrats offered a much different outlook after Tuesday night, combining Mamdani with Democrats winning gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and the results in the Miami mayor’s race where Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins will face former Miami City Manager Emilio González in a runoff.

    “Last night was not an anomaly or a blip. It’s a rational call to restore order amidst chaos and a resolute reminder that hope is still on the ballot,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters.

    “They (voters) want the government back open,” Fried said. “They want to make sure that their kids are fed. They want to make sure that they have access to affordable health care. They want prices to come down. They want the economy to grow, and they want to stop the chaos in Washington.”

    Fried said national “momentum” could help Florida Democrats, who do not hold any statewide offices and are far outpaced in voter registration by Republicans.

    “We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m not overstating the amount of work that needs to get done,” Fried said. “But I do think that we are on the right course to start picking up some of these really important elections across the state.”

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    His lawsuit accuses Planned Parenthood of falsely advertising that abortion medication is “safer than Tylenol.”

    Spooky season had one final and belated hurrah on Conduit’s stage this week

    ‘SB 164 could be the beginning of a slippery slope where the state treats embryos and fetuses as ‘persons’ under the law.’



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    Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
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  • Champion of Dollar Slices and Rent Freezes: Small Businesses React To Mamdani Win in NYC Mayoral Race

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    New York assemblyman Zohran Mamdani seamlessly clinched the win Tuesday evening in New York City’s mayoral election in what has become the latest David and Goliath political tale.

    Mamdani defeated his opponents, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, who ran as the Republican nominee, with Mamdani grabbing more than 50 percent of votes. Mamdani, 34, largely mobilized young voters who turned out in hoards and were excited by a fresh, progressive face to enter politics. Mamdani defeated Cuomo back in July in the Democratic primary as well, with 56.4 percent of the vote, while Cuomo nabbed 43.6 percent.

    Tackling affordability was a staple of Mamdani’s campaign and likely helped deliver his win in America’s most expensive city, one that continues to grapple with rising costs. Among other things, he’s promised to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized tenants, roll out a free childcare program, raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and even resurrect the $1 slice. 

    For small businesses specifically, Mamdani wants to slash small business fines, inject $25 million in an underutilized small business financing program, and appoint a dedicated “Mom & Pops Czar.” But Mamdani’s tax policy has drawn fire from political opponents. He seeks to raise the corporate tax rate from 8.85 percent to 11.5 (matching New Jersey’s rate), and impose a two percent flat tax on high-earners, defined as those making $1 million or more each year. Critics warn that if these are enacted, the city could see an exodus of the wealthy. 

    Now begins the next step: Getting to work and delivering on the campaign promises he made. So are business owners ready? Inc. spoke with four entrepreneurs to see what they’re monitoring closely. 

    Affordable housing

    As New York City contends with a housing shortage and steep rent increases, local business owners like Josue Pierre, co-founder of Rogers Burgers in New York City, is hopeful that Mamdani will deliver on his promise of constructing 200,000 affordable housing units within the next 10 years. 

    “It’s great for the city as a whole because if our customer base can no longer afford to live in the city, then we will not be able to stay open,” Pierre says. “So seeing a Mamdani win is great for the average New Yorker, but it’s great for small businesses like mine.”

    Nelson Chu, the founder of the private credit platform Percent, anticipates that Mamdani will take a tougher posture on some sectors, like finance and real estate, but companies aren’t going to pack up and relocate overnight.

    “Finance folks may brace for more scrutiny in the short term; upside could be momentum on housing, transit, and small-biz support that broadens who can start and scale here,” Chu says. 

    At the end of the day, Chu says that most founders simply want faster rules, quicker permits, and streets that are safe and hygienic. He adds: “The real test is which proposals actually get implemented versus which stall out; that’s when you’ll see hiring, investment, and office decisions move.”

    Access to capital

    Chat Joglekar, the CEO and co-founder of the small business acquisition marketplace Baton, predicts that Mamdani will likely tighten financial and real estate regulations, but could also expand certain capital opportunities for businesses.

    While it does not appear that Mamdani has outlined specific capital access goals, he does want to invest $25 million in New York City’s Business Express Service Teams. The program connects business owners with city workers tasked with helping businesses apply for permits and abide by local regulations. 

    “We’d likely see renewed focus on equitable entrepreneurship and local reinvestment, which could broaden who gets to buy, build, and scale a business in New York,” Joglekar says. “The city’s next chapter will hinge on how well its leaders balance ambition with execution, turning promises into practical improvements that keep the country’s small business capital open for business.”

    The $30 minimum wage

    The general minimum wage in New York City sits at $16.50. Mamdani is proposing to effectively double it within four years. This concerns Aron Boxer, the CEO and founder of Diversified Education Services, a tutoring service. Boxer, who also partially owns the Tipsy Turtle, a sports bar nestled in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay, says the wage hike would be devastating. 

    “In California, when they jacked up minimum wage, kiosks and automation replaced workers to offset rising costs (causing mass layoffs), but New York’s hospitality industry doesn’t have that luxury,” Boxer says.

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    Melissa Angell

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