The Democrats claimed victory on November 4th, winning in NJ, NYC, and Virginia. Given that Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City tend to vote Democrat, I was not surprised they won them all.
The most interesting win is Zohan Mamdani as Mayor of NYC. It will be interesting to observe how he governs and plans to implement free childcare, free public transportation, rent freezes, building more housing, running grocery stores, and raising the minimum wage to $30.00 per hour. The best part of it is that he thinks the rich will pay for it all.
Even if he puts fees on companies doing business in NYC, it won’t work. Companies will either decide to pass the cost onto the customer or choose not to do business in NYC. They will focus on other cities or other parts of NY. It will be NYC that will lose, not the companies. This will increase the cost for consumers living in NYC.
I’m not sure how he plans to provide free bus transportation and government-run grocery stores. Kansas City, Missouri, already tried both and failed. In Kansas City, the free fare program led to an increase in crime on the buses, and after five years and a $10 billion budget deficit, the program ended. The estimate to provide free bus fare would cost NYC $630 million a year. A 2002 study also found that free transit in large cities led to increased crime and discouraged ridership.
Kansas City also attempted a government-run grocery store and ultimately shut it down as well. They spent $17 million to open it and subsequently invested another $750,000 in 2024 to keep it operational. They closed it in August 2025 due to empty shelves and a lack of customers.
The cost of free childcare from 6 weeks to 5 years old would cost $12 billion per year. As we know, whatever the government implements always costs more than it estimates. It will probably cost three times as much.
Next, he plans to freeze rent for all subsidized tenants and build an additional 200,000 units over the next 10 years. The problem with rent control is that when the costs of repairs and upkeep increase, someone must bear the burden. At some point, it no longer pays to be a landlord because the cost exceeds the income coming in.
It’s the same thing with government-owned grocery stores. If the government controls the cost of food and the company selling to them starts to lose money on a product, they will no sell it.
NYC already has a shortage of police officers, and it is about to get worse. Mamdani plans to reallocate the NYPD’s overtime budget to help pay for the “Department of Community Safety”. This will cause more police officers to seek employment opportunities outside of NYC, resulting in even greater shortages. The “Department of Community Safety” will respond to mental illness, homelessness, and help prevent future violence. Let’s hope none of them have weapons and hurt someone.
Finally, he wants to increase the minimum wage to $30.00 an hour by 2030. Small businesses will disappear. They will not be able to sustain paying an employee $30 an hour. New York’s current minimum wage will increase to $17.00 on January 1, 2026, and continue to increase until it reaches $30.00 in 2030. But he won’t stop there. It will continue to increase as necessary.
Let’s say a small business has three part-time employees and must pay them $30 an hour instead of $17.00 an hour. That’s $13 more an hour. The cost of three part-time employees who work 20 hours is an additional $780 a week and $40,920 per year. This is all before taxes and the cost of running a business.
Most likely, the small businesses will either increase prices, cut staff and hours, close its doors, or relocate outside of NYC. Leaving more people out of work and unable to find employment. Even though they are not wealthy, they may have no choice but to move if there are no jobs available.
Zohran Mamdani is a smart man; he got himself elected. He deserves congratulations. However, his policies will not be successful. He wants to raise taxes on the rich, who have already been leaving NYC. He will implement some policies and may get some tax increases, but it won’t be enough. His next step will be to run for the governor’s office.
Now, to run for governor, he will have to explain why he was unable to secure the tax increases necessary to fund his policies. Easy, blame the current governor and the New York State Legislature for not increasing taxes on the rich. If they had approved all his increases, he could have implemented all his policies. If they elect him as governor, he can increase taxes and move forward to deliver on the promises he made as mayor. It’s a perfect cover.
The only problem with the plan is that I am not sure what NYC will look like in four years. With fewer police officers, crime is likely to increase. There is no such thing as free transit rides, free childcare, free housing, and free everything. Someone needs to pay for these things, and eventually, people who are paying for someone to stay home all day and collect a check will stop working and join them or move out. Why should they work while someone else does nothing all day? It’s human nature, and at some point, enough will be enough.
This is why socialist countries often fail. At some point, either a business is losing money, or they figure, ‘Why bother?’ I am not earning a lot of money and could potentially receive more from the government by staying home.
In fact, it didn’t even take him 24 hours to start asking his voters for money! The money isn’t there and it never will be!
Looking forward to watching it unfold.