The Show-Off Mayor
Mamdani’s first full week focused more on camera-ready moments than the dirty work of governing.
Zohran Mamdani’s first full week suggested a mayoralty oriented more toward symbolism and visibility than the unglamorous work of governing. The new mayor of New York City smoothed over an asphalt bump while posing for photos with city workers; secured a funding commitment from Governor Kathy Hochul that was light on details; and issued a statement condemning President Donald Trump over the capture of Nicolás Maduro. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has embraced a similar style during his time in office, and his record—not to mention his abysmal approval ratings—shows that performance cannot substitute for administrative competence.
First, Mamdani visited the Williamsburg Bridge’s bike lane, looking on as Department of Transportation workers pave over an asphalt bump at the Manhattan end of the bridge that has long frustrated cyclists. With cameras rolling, the new mayor spread a shovelful of asphalt himself, declaring that under his administration there would be “no issue too small” for City Hall’s attention. That the mayor chose to elevate such a modest repair into an early showcase underscored his preference for gestures that play well on social media.
In keeping with social-media stunts, the new mayor soon after announced “rental ripoff hearings,” a series of public forums across the five boroughs that will allow tenants to vent their frustrations about poor conditions and unsavory landlord practices. Of course, the city has a well-established process to file complaints about substandard or illegal housing conditions. Just call 311, which routes issues to Housing Preservation and Development, or other agencies, as appropriate. Rather than shorten follow-up times or improve the existing process, the Mamdani administration appears eager to foment discord between tenants and their landlords—perhaps to justify harsh regulatory actions that will follow later this year.
No matter how much tenants complain, Mamdani and his allies remain unwilling to address the fundamental problem in poorly maintained regulated buildings: rents that are legally prohibited from rising enough to cover maintenance and capital costs. As Manhattan Institute senior fellow Eric Kober has explained, the real culprit behind deteriorating conditions in stabilized rental housing is the state’s draconian 2019 rent law, which severely limited stabilized owners’ ability to recapture investments in building or apartment improvements and ended the practice of raising rents more upon vacancy.
Mamdani did achieve a substantive win in securing a guarantee from Hochul to fund childcare for two-year-olds—dubbed “2-Care.” But the duo left most of the details up in the air, including where seats would first be available and whether provider capacity is sufficient to ensure coverage in a reasonable timeframe.
If the decade-old and still ongoing problems with the city’s 3-K program teaches anything, achieving 2-Care will depend on getting the details right. 3-K also started with two “high-need” (low-income) school districts, which generated less demand than expected, leading to half-empty classes that the city nonetheless paid for in full.
Following the capture, arrest, and indictment of Nicolas Maduro, Mamdani and Hochul had stern words for President Trump. The mayor issued a statement saying that, “Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.” His allies in the Democratic Socialists of America, meanwhile, have defended Maduro and the Venezuelan regime, hosting a “Hands off Venezuela” call where they lauded the country’s affordable housing, among other supposed benefits.
The reality is that Maduro oversaw one of the sharpest peacetime economic collapses in history, inflicting untold horrors that sent 8 million Venezuelans abroad since 2014. There’s little reason why the Mayor of New York should opine publicly about such foreign matters, but Mamdani made this a hallmark of his campaign. He repeatedly called the Israeli actions in Gaza “genocide” and pledged to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If he follows through, it would be an immediate provocation against Trump.
Despite Mamdani’s chummy West Wing meeting with Trump in November and the apparent frequent texting between mayor and president, the city remains vulnerable to federal funding cuts. Last week, Trump recently targeted childcare and social services budgets in multiple states, including New York (a federal court has since blocked the order).
Having to fill a multi-billion funding gap would seriously jeopardize Mamdani’s ability to achieve his agenda. He would do well to plan for such a contingency as he prepares his first budget, though the best outcome for the city would be to avoid it.
Ribbon cuttings and the bully pulpit are undoubtedly part of the mayor’s job, but their overuse risks turning the day-to-day of governing into a perpetual campaign. Former mayor Eric Adams didn’t shy away from soaking up the city’s nightlife, supposedly to drum up support for the industry. It was a big distraction, both for him and the public. One of the resulting lessons of Adams’s turbulent time in office is that the mayor can’t shy away from the nitty-gritty of governing if he wants to accomplish his policy agenda.
The mayor has promised New Yorkers concrete results, and he will be judged on whether he delivers them. Achieving his agenda depends on getting the boring details right.
Mamdani is pissing off the bigots at the Manhattan Institute