Zohran Mamdani Has Two Big Problems—They’re Called Hochul and Menin |
Zohran Mamdani Has Two Big Problems—They’re Called Hochul and Menin
The governor and City Council speaker look like they’re gunning to become the Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of New York politics.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin raises objections to almost everything Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposes, from his budget to his plans to create city-run grocery stores to his appointments to key city positions. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has sidelined his proposal for free bus service in the city. For months, she opposed any tax increases on the wealthy to address New York City’s budget deficit, before finally agreeing to a tax on millionaires’ second homes that is likely to raise less revenue than the income hike that the mayor favors. Her aversion to substantial income and corporate tax increases also complicates Mamdani’s plans for public-funded childcare up to age 5.
After Mamdani’s surprising victory last year, the big question was whether his kind of progressive politics could succeed in New York and provide a model for cities across the country and the world. We may never find out. The first four months of Mamdani’s mayorship suggest that Hochul and Menin will stall and block enough of the mayor’s agenda that it won’t come close to being fully implemented.
That’s unfortunate and misguided. Mamdani deserves a real chance to govern. Hochul and Menin should not become the Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of New York politics.
What Hochul and Menin are doing isn’t unprecedented or surprising. Governors around the country often block the initiatives of mayors in their states. This is particularly common in New York, where a decade ago then-Governor Andrew Cuomo seemed to revel in diminishing then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. City councils are supposed to be a check on mayors. And Hochul and Menin, who represents the Upper East Side, don’t hide the fact that they are aligned with the Democratic Party’s center-left wing, which is wary of progressives and democratic socialists like........