Mamdani’s taking over NY institutions to push his agenda —testing the law’s limits
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Mamdani’s taking over NY institutions to push his agenda —testing the law’s limits
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani may be an ideologue, but he’s also what Niccolò Machiavelli deemed “a sensible man”: One who will “will base his power on what he controls.”
And he’s using his time in office to exert greater control over city institutions — sometimes even testing the bounds of the law — to build a political machine that can persist beyond his tenure.
As the recent congressional primaries revealed, the mayor’s grip on the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America gives him the power to unseat entrenched incumbents.
Though fractured among a red-tinted mosaic of internal caucuses — including avowed Marxist revolutionaries — the DSA closes ranks behind him, marshaling tens of thousands of volunteers for his candidates and causes.
Now, he’s brought the door-knockers inside government through the Office of Mass Engagement.
Its commissioner, Tascha Van Auken, and Mamdani’s housing czar, Cea Weaver — both DSA leaders — are actually entering buildings to organize tenants into “unions.”
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And the office is using taxpayer funds to film documentaries about tenant organizing.
It’s far from apparent that........
