Just a Quick Update on NYC Mayor and Socialist Zohran Mamdani

I wrote an earlier article on Mamdani that appeared in Issue 11 of the Grassroot Conservative eMagazine, published July 9th, 2025, and a follow-up article just after NYC’s November elections where Mamdani became the Mayor-Elect. I am writing this short follow-up on his first thirty days in office as the first (and I hope last) socialist mayor of the Big Apple.


Mamdani made numerous campaign promises to get elected, sort of like President Trump, and as the media dissected Trump’s first 30 days in office, I felt Mamdani should get the same sort of treatment.


For a quick recap, remember that Mamdani’s campaign promises (to get votes, of course) included such things as rent freezes, government-run grocery stores, free childcare, free city bus rides, and raising taxes on wealthy and successful residents and businesses. He was also going to create a Department of Community safety to prevent violence before it happens (quite a trick, if you ask me, and the premise of a Tom Cruise movie, “Minority Report” – an interesting movie that didn’t work out so well for Tom Cruise). I would also remind readers that Mamdani has expressed an avowed hatred for Israel and Jews (notwithstanding his trying to walk back those comments to get elected), he refused to condemn the Holocaust, and he supports Palestine and Hamas (the same Hamas from the October 7th, 2023, surprise attack and slaughter of over 1,200 Jews and the taking of over 250 hostages, as well as Hamas’s stated goal to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth) . And let’s not forget how he characterized the New York Police Department (again, before he tried to walk back those comments to get votes). He described the NYPD as “racist, anti-queer, and a major threat to public safety.” He called for defunding the NYPD many times before he started campaigning. In fairness to Mamdani, I guess if you can prevent violence before it happens, the NYPD won’t need a lot of officers and funding could be smaller. Good luck with that.


Unlike President Trump, who accomplished a lot in his first thirty days (and quite a bit his first one or two days), Mamdani hasn’t been able to do anything he promised. Again, in fairness to this socialist (really, a communist if you look beneath the sheep’s clothing), many of his promises would be too difficult to do in his first month, let alone his first year or entire term unless he is a magician. But maybe he is; after all, he did get elected.


So, what has he accomplished?


He has complained about the huge budget deficit left by the previous mayor, Eric Adams, and how he will need to raise taxes and take other (mysterious) steps to get NYC out of the hole. I guess when he was campaigning, neither he nor any of his advisors knew that raising taxes is not within his power but resides with New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Unfortunately for Mamdani, Governor Hochul says the answer is still “no” on raising taxes. Two days ago, she said, “I don’t believe in taxing for the sake of taxing. Never have, never will.” She basically told Mamdani to first understand how much revenue is coming in and what adjustments can be made. She asked him, “Do you really have a full picture right now of all the revenues coming in?” Mamdani, of course, blamed former Mayor Eric Adams and that he “poisoned” the budget books by underestimating billions of dollars in recurring expenses. Mamdani said the city is underwater to the tune of $12 billion…I guess neither he nor his advisors bothered to do an analysis of NYC’s budget during his campaigning. Adams slammed Mamdani’s socialist views and said he left the city with $8 billion dollars in reserve. I would predict that we’ll never know the full truth.


The only other thing he has accomplished is appointing a number of people to “important” positions within his administration.


One of his biggest campaign promises was to protect tenants and freeze rents. To further this promise, he appointed fellow Democratic Socialists of America member Cea Weaver as the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. Ms. Weaver’s prior statements include such things as, “Elect more communists (which clearly NYC has done with Mamdani),” “If you don’t believe in the government’s sacred right to seize private property, it’s over (a central communist/socialist “right” for government seizure of property and businesses – and I must be out of touch because I didn’t know that government had any “sacred” right to my property or business),” “Private property…especially homeownership, is a weapon of white supremacy (which must be a real shocker to the Black, Asian, and other minority homeowners),” and “Home ownership is racist.” As an American of Japanese ancestry, I didn’t know until now that I was a racist (my German (now proud American) wife must be shocked to discover this about me) and who knew that I was wielding a weapon of white supremacy. Weaver has faced significant backlash over these statements. Shortly after her appointment, as she came out of her apartment, she was confronted by reporters and then ran back inside crying when asked about the $1.6 million home her mother owns in Nashville, Tennessee.


Mamdani’s pick to be his incoming City Hall Director of Appointments was Catherine De Costa. Unfortunately for him, she resigned two days after her previous statements came to light, including posts about “money hungry Jews” and NYPD “piggies.”


Mamdani appointed Tamika Mallory to a newly established Community Safety Committee. Mallory was a former Women’s March leader who stepped down from its board amid allegations of antisemitism. No surprise with this appointment given Mamdani’s stated and committed anti-Israel/anti-Jew position. I would have to believe that she will have little, if any, consideration for the “community safety” of Jews in New York – and remember that New York City has the largest population of Jews outside of Israel.


Mamdani continues to stand by Afua Atta-Mensah as his new Chief Equity Officer, following the discovery of social media posts where she appeared to endorse “taxing [white people] to the white meat,” and referred to “white liberal racism.” Surprisingly, those social media posts have since been deleted – okay, being sarcastic here; no surprise at all…she probably twisted an ankle racing to her keyboard to delete those posts. It sure sounds like she’s all about “equity” and won’t hold any biases.


Mamdani’s pick for the Committee on the Criminal Legal System was Mysonne Linen, a former rapper who served seven years in state prison for armed robbery of two taxi drivers. He maintained his innocence and said he was a victim of misidentification. He also argued that he was not directly involved in the robberies. Come on now, if you claim innocence, you weren’t involved in the robberies at all – directly or indirectly. This seemed to me a true admission of guilt trying to be disguised as a statement of innocence. I guess he would have an advantage over others on the Committee (whom I don’t know yet) who may have only seen the Criminal Justice System from one side of the prison bars. Let me be clear, though, I strongly believe felons can be rehabilitated and maybe Linen is one of them – we’ll have to wait and see.


Mamdani has also picked Ramzi Kassem to be NYC’s top legal counsel. He may be a fine lawyer but his pick of clients bothers me. During my 47+ year legal career, I’ve worked with literally thousands of lawyers, from criminal to civil to contract to many other types of law. Most attorneys I know, have hired, and worked with, can pick the clients they choose to represent. The lawyers I know would not represent clients they find repugnant or despicable in their crimes or beliefs. I believe in our justice system and every accused person has a right to competent legal representation but, except in rare cases, lawyers do not have to take cases. In my opinion, a lawyer’s selection of clients says something about him or her. Kaseem seems to have a storied legal career. But I cannot overlook the fact of his preference for defending terrorists, including more than fifteen who were incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. He has represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda terrorist, who has a long history of coordinating and planning terrorist attacks and training al Qaeda terrorists. Ahmed al-Darbi pleaded guilty in 2014 for his role in a 2002 al Qaeda terrorist plot to bomb a French oil tanker off the Yemen coast. Kaseem also represented Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian who was arrested for his anti-Israel protests on campus. Again, he may be a fine lawyer but would not have been my pick as the top legal counsel for NYC.


On a different note, like a good socialist (communist), Mamdani has previously said, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires,” really pushing the socialist/communist agenda of wealth distribution – you know, take money from those who worked hard and earned it and distribute it to those that have not done so.


I will close by saying that Mamdani has made several picks to other prominent positions within his administration that, in my opinion, are highly qualified and should do good work for the Big Apple. I’m just troubled by some of his picks to very, very important positions.


While NYC is on the opposite side of the country from where I live in Nevada (thank goodness), it is one of the most prominent cities in the U.S. and could have influence over things that might affect us here in Nevada. We should all keep a sharp eye on Mamdani and his communist and antisemite cohorts.



Jerry Hashimura
Pahrump, NV

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