MAMDANI. MANDATE?

Zohran Mamdani won the NYC Mayoral election with just over 50% of the vote, a slim plurality. Whether that constitutes a mandate is arguable. But it matters not. For many of us, the vote was a choice for hope over caution.

Two women were elected as governors, in NJ and VA. Their victory speeches went on far too long; they thanked everyone and everything, omitting nothing or no one. Their remarks did not, however, rattle the rafters. Mamdani’s victory speech was fierce, fiery and on message.  He correctly read Trump as a bully and a coward at heart who depends on others to do the dirty. He addressed the Donald directly because Mamdani assumed he’d be watching. Trump did not immediately fire back. Smart for once. He’d best craft a response that far surpasses his usual bullshit. He threatens New Yorkers all the time. But If he tries to invade NYC with his ICEmen, the demos will be far larger and last far longer than the one-day No Kings demos.

What Mamdani promises, though, is clearly a work in embryo: making the buses free may not be very difficult. The MTA states that bus fare evasion is already at 50% or more so he's halfway there already. Vehicular traffic, especially in Manhattan (the center of the known universe), given street closures, bike lanes (great), double parking, intersection blocking, just sitting in prohibited spaces -- including the sidewalks, etc., except for a few thruways like 14th Street, remains a challenge for both pedestrians and drivers.

Affordability is the crux of Mamdani’s message. Honestly, what is that? Freezing rents? The not already rent-stabilized will benefit some of course; but affordability means a manifold increase in housing availability at a reasonable price. Many of us won’t live long enough to see it because it’s a decades-long challenge, involving location, relocation, rezoning and capital, for starters. Retro-fitting office buildings, as Sliwa and some others have proposed, is simply unworkable for a number of reasons, too many to get into here, except for noting that the typical office building floor print would not readily convert to residential occupancy nor meet existing legalities. It’s easy to freeze rents for existing renters; (about two-thirds of housing in NYC is rental.) But new people searching for an apartment learn quickly that there's very little out there, except for the luxury trade. The annual vacancy turnover in Manhattan is around 6%.

If Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate had dropped out, the net gain for Cuomo and Adams, who topped out with under 7000 votes (and had withdrawn from the race), would have scarcely dented Mamdani’s lead whose quickness, energy, charm, intellect and youth message brought out two million votes, the largest in decades. Cuomo, out of touch and out of gas ran a truly sclerotic campaign.

Mandami closed his victory speech with "New York, tonight you have delivered. A mandate for change. A mandate for a new. kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that."

We shall see.