Mamdani win would be an ominous turn

IN JUST A few days, a Karl Marx-quoting Democratic Socialist who has struggled to disavow Hamas is likely to be elected the next mayor of the nation's financial and cultural epicenter.

- JOSH HAMMER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SUPPORTERS take a selfie with mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani at Astoria Park in New York City in June.

(CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA, Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Thirty-three-year-old New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has surged to the front of the race. He leads by double digits in virtually every public poll and is an overwhelming favorite in the online betting markets.

Absent a miracle, in short, Mamdani is going to win and will be the next mayor of New York City. But one might be forgiven for believing in the possibility of miracles. Mamdani must, somehow, be rejected — and if he prevails, the grave consequences will extend far beyond the Big Apple.

First, consider Mamdani's platform. He proposes a rent freeze on all rent-stabilized apartments, the creation of hundreds of thousands of publicly owned housing units, "free" city-run grocery stores, universal child care from infancy to kindergarten, free bus service and steep tax hikes - including a jump in the corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5% and a new 2% surcharge on incomes exceeding a million dollars a year. He would divert funds away from the New York Police Department to a new Department of Community Safety staffed by social workers and activists.

This is not reform. It is social transformation. And to understand what's truly at stake for all of us non-New Yorkers, one must remember what New York City still represents.