Tag: new york

Why Mamdani’s ‘Free Childcare’ Won’t Work

“While families with young children comprise about 14 percent of the city’s population, they comprise about 30 percent of the set of New Yorkers who are leaving the city,” said Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at a visit to a day care center in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where he hyped his plans for those families.

Mamdani ran on the most ambitious universal child care proposal in the country: free day care for all kids ages 6 weeks and above. Apparently, this pitch was compelling to the city’s beleaguered parents: The self-styled socialist won by a hefty margin.

New York City already has universal child care guaranteed to 3- and 4-year-olds. When Bill de Blasio ran for mayor in 2013, he aimed to distinguish himself from then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had created 4,000 new free pre-K seats but allocated them only to poor kids. De Blasio universalized the system in 2014.

Mamdani wants to expand to an even younger age group, which would cost an extra $6 billion a year. Those funds aren’t available in city coffers, so Mamdani would need cooperation from the state government to raise the money, likely by taking another leaf from the de Blasio playbook and trying to hike taxes on the very rich.

Mamdani’s political intuition is sound: The affordability issue is salient. The number of New York City families with three kids or more has dropped by nearly 17 percent over the last decade. Families with young children have been self-exiling in droves since the pandemic. The under-20 population has dropped by almost 200,000 over the last few years. The city’s public school system has 915,000 students enrolled, down from 1.1 million a decade ago. New York’s comptroller reports that the average cost of private child care for babies and toddlers now sits at $18,200 annually for family-based care and $26,000 annually for center-based care, shooting up in recent years. It’s no wonder so many parents are clamoring to turn over their kids to the warm embrace of the state. They feel left out in the cold.

But universal 3-K (for 3-year-olds) hasn’t served families as well as its supporters promised it would. It distorted the private market, driving day cares out of business. Rich families have used nifty hacks to get their kids into the best centers, while the poor are left with the rest. The universal nature of it might be politically valuable when you’re currying favor with the tony Park Slope crowd, but it means that child care for rich people is subsidized by the slightly richer, and that day cares serving the poorest neighborhoods don’t get what they need. Parents who choose to stay home with their kids or employ nannies get shafted, and costs for all forms of child care are driven up the more the government intervenes in the market. More government involvement won’t make that better.

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Mamdani’s NYC Socialist Experiment Ended Before It Began

Margaret Thatcher once characterized socialism by saying, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” The experience of Zohran Mamdani’s quixotic attempt to transform New York City into a socialist paradise, an oxymoron, demonstrates that Thatcher’s observation requires an addition: you also need the permission of the people paying for it.

In layman’s terms, like a child asking his mother for ice cream money, Mamdani asked Governor Hochul for permission, and she said “no.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign promises face structural barriers that make implementation impossible. Under New York State Constitution Article XVI, NYC mayors cannot raise taxes independently. Only the state legislature can authorize local tax increases, requiring approval from both chambers and Governor Kathy Hochul.

During a PIX11 interview in early January 2026, Hochul stated that increasing taxes on wealthy New Yorkers is “completely off the table.” She pointed out that 1.5% of New Yorkers pay one-third of the state’s entire budget. She refuses to risk driving them out with higher taxes.

Mamdani proposed a 2-percentage-point increase on NYC income tax for those earning over $1 million, raising the rate from 3.9% to 5.9%, plus increasing corporate tax rates from 7.25% to 11.5%. His campaign estimated this would generate $4 billion annually. Without this revenue, his agenda collapses.

Hochul’s January 2026 $260 billion state budget includes no income tax increases and extends the 7.25% corporate tax rate for three more years, rejecting Mamdani’s proposed increase. While State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have expressed openness to tax increases, Hochul faces her own 2026 re-election campaign and a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.

Even if both legislative chambers pass tax increases, Hochul can veto the legislation. With her own election approaching, it is unlikely that she would take a radical decision that would alienate her wealthy donor base. Overriding a gubernatorial veto requires a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers, which Mamdani’s allies cannot achieve.

NYC Comptroller Mark Levine announced in mid-January 2026 that the city faces a $2.2 billion deficit for fiscal year 2026 and a $10.4 billion deficit for fiscal year 2027, totaling a cumulative gap of $12.6 billion. Levine blamed chronic underbudgeting by the Adams administration for rental assistance, overtime, shelter costs, public assistance, DOE due process cases, and MTA contributions, totaling $3.8 billion in unbudgeted expenses for FY2026 alone. He stated that the deficit was not caused by a bad economy but by budgeting decisions from the previous administration.

This is the first time since the Great Recession that the city faces a budget shortfall of this magnitude this late in the fiscal year. Mamdani’s first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan stated the administration would only include new tax revenue if it were included in Hochul’s budget, which it was not.

With a severe revenue shortfall, Mamdani’s plans for free programs are unlikely to materialize. He has promised fare-free buses by eliminating the $2.90 fare on all MTA buses citywide, universal childcare, and state-funded “baby baskets” for every newborn containing formula, diapers, and postpartum supplies.

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IT BEGINS: Zohran Mamdani Announces Plans to ‘Tax the Wealthy’ to Compensate for NYC Budget Deficit 

Well that was fast.

Zohran Mamdani has been mayor of New York City for less than a month and he is already talking about raising taxes on the ‘wealthy’ to make up the city’s budget deficit, which he claims is on par with the Great Recession.

Get ready to see a lot of Uhauls leaving the city.

CNBC reports:

New York Mayor Mamdani says city must hike taxes on wealthy to fill $12 billion deficit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday said the city’s wealthiest must pay more in taxes to help fill the staggering budget deficit of more than $12 billion that he was left by his predecessor.

“This is at a scale that’s actually greater than what we saw here in New York City during the Great Recession,” Mamdani said of that budget hole during an interview with CNBC “Squawk Box” co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin at City Hall.

The Democrat, who took office on Jan. 1 after campaigning on a platform of hiking taxes on the rich, attributed the big deficit to “gross fiscal mismanagement.”

He pointed to actions taken by former Mayor Eric Adams, and by ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom he soundly defeated in the November general election, for causing that budget gap.

Mamdani vowed that his administration will be up front with New Yorkers about budget issues that have been “hidden from them for far too long.”

City Comptroller Mark Levine earlier this month said the new mayor faces a budget shortfall that is projected to total $12.6 billion over the next two fiscal years.

That comprises a $2.2 billion projected deficit on the city’s nearly $116 billion budget for fiscal 2026, which ends on June 30, and a $10.4 billion gap in fiscal 2027.

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NYC Socialist Mamdani Calls to Abolish ICE After Armed Agitator Shot by Border Patrol 

Minneapolis Mayor Mamdani issued a public statement on Saturday sharply criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following a fatal shooting earlier in the day involving federal agents and an armed man in Minneapolis.

Mamdani’s comments come amid heightened tensions in the city after a series of federal law enforcement actions this month that have drawn intense scrutiny and public reaction.

In a post on X, the mayor said the latest incident reflects broader concerns about federal law enforcement conduct across the nation.

“As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today,” Mamdani said in his statement posted Saturday.

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Zohran Mamdani Announces That Children of Illegal Aliens Will be Included in City’s ‘Free’ Childcare Program

New York City’s new Democratic Socialist (communist) Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently made it clear that the children of people in the country illegally will be included in the city’s new ‘free’ childcare program.

He went on to reaffirm New York’s status as a sanctuary city and pushed lies about ICE arresting people without showing warrants.

It’s amazing that New York City is going down this road just as a daycare centered fraud scandal is on the verge of unseating the governor and attorney general in Minnesota.

FOX News reports:

Mamdani clarifies NYC won’t check immigration status for universal childcare enrollees

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani clarified Friday that the city wouldn’t check the immigration status of children enrolling in his administration’s universal pre-K and 3-K programs.

“Just to put it very clearly, these are programs for every single New Yorker,” Mamdani, who took office at the beginning of the year, said in a media roundtable discussion. “These are not programs that are going to ask the immigration status of any one of the children.

“All of those children are New Yorkers. They should all be enrolled in 3-K and pre-K, no matter where they were born or where they come from. And we are also proud to be a sanctuary city.”

He said that means ICE agents are denied access to schools, hospitals and city properties “unless those ICE agents can present a judicial warrant signed by a judge. We know that the vast majority of the time, ICE agents are not presenting that kind of documentation. If they’re presenting any kind of documentation, it tends to be an administrative warrant. And, a lot of times, there isn’t any kind of documentation provided.”

The mayor said earlier that the program is open to any New Yorkers who have children turning 3 or 4 anytime in 2026, adding the program could save New Yorkers tens of thousands of dollars a year “by providing them with free childcare.”

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NYPD Detectives Denied Treatment At Hospital After Being ‘Mistaken For ICE’

NYPD detectives say they were treated with disrespect at a Brooklyn hospital after going to the emergency room for medical care following an on-the-job incident.

Police officials said the detectives arrived at NYU Langone Health in Cobble Hill but were confronted by security guards who questioned their identities and why they were there.

Sources told Eyewitness News the detectives were in plainclothes and explained that one of them needed treatment for a minor injury sustained during a scuffle with a suspect. Despite that explanation, they were allegedly detained, and one detective was initially refused entry because he was carrying his service weapon.

The encounter quickly angered union leaders.

“No individual-especially NYPD Detectives injured in the line of duty-should ever be subjected to such treatment,” the detectives’ union said in a statement.

The detectives, who were not identified, believe hospital staff may have mistaken them for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and initially tried to turn them away.

ICE agents often wear tactical gear marked “Police” but do not always display badges or other identification. NYPD detectives, even when in plainclothes, carry gold shields.

The incident comes amid heightened political tensions surrounding ICE enforcement in New York City.

Appearing on “The View” on Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said ICE should be abolished.

“We’re seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it’s doing is terrorizing people no matter their immigration status, no matter the facts of the law, no matter the facts of the case,” he said.

The mayor said Wednesday that he had not been aware of the hospital incident until asked about it by a reporter.

“That’s the first I’m hearing about it but it’s something I’ll follow up on,” he said.

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Mamdani Pressed on ‘The View’ Over Appointee Who Labeled Homeownership ‘Weapon of White Supremacy’ 

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was confronted on national television Tuesday over controversial past statements made by one of his appointees, as well as other members of his administration, during an appearance on The View, as reported by Fox News.

The exchange centered on comments made by Cea Weaver, whom Mamdani appointed as director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.

Weaver has drawn attention for prior social media posts criticizing homeownership and calling for communist electoral victories.

During the interview, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin raised concerns about the message sent by the mayor’s staffing decisions.

“Some appointees have come under fire for past social media posts, this often happens when new administrations come in,” Griffin said.

“Your new chief equity officer made several now-deleted comments disparaging liberal White women. Your tenant advocate tweeted that homeownership was a weapon of White supremacy and called to elect more communists, among other posts. What message do you think this conveys to New Yorkers, and how would you push back on this?”

Mamdani responded by directing attention to his own public statements and priorities as mayor.

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Mamdani Housing Czar: ‘White, Middle-Class Homeowners are a Huge Problem’

Cea Weaver, the ‘tenant advocate’ and housing czar of the Zohran Mamdani administration, was in the news a few weeks ago when it was first revealed that she believes in collectivized housing. Now we are learning more about what she believes.

In the clip below, she describes white, middle-class homeowners as a problem. This is the sort of insane ideology you might hear on the campus of Bryn Mawr College, which Weaver attended. The point is that this woman sees home ownership as an obstacle to progress.

The people Mamdani is surrounding himself with are insane and dangerously stupid. Home ownership is one of the most basic ways that average people can build real wealth.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

‘White, Middle-Class Homeowners Are a Huge Problem’: Mamdani’s Communist Housing Czar Called To ‘Undermine the Institution of Homeownership’

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s (D., N.Y.) top housing official, Cea Weaver, bemoaned “white, middle-class homeowners” during a 2021 podcast appearance. Her goal as an organizer, Weaver said, is to “undermine the institution of homeownership.”

“White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for a renter justice movement,” Weaver said in previously unreported remarks on the Bad Faith podcast in September 2021, hosted by Briahna Joy Gray, a former press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) who was fired by the Hill after rolling her eyes at the sister of a hostage in Gaza who urged Gray to believe Israeli women whom Hamas had raped. Also on the podcast was activist Arianna Afeni Evans, most famous in the D.C. area for being arrested at a metro station for fare evasion in 2025.

“Unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, I don’t know—it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in.”

During the podcast episode, Weaver laid out a plan to use the government to attack landlords and prevent them from evicting tenants, in addition to fighting against homeownership.

“We need a national movement to pass universal rent control to limit landlords’ ability to endlessly profit on our homes, to give tenants the right to form a tenants’ union where they live, and to really block evictions,” she said. “But rent control is not enough: People need money. We need to tax billionaires and transform that into cash assistance for renters. And we need to chip away at homeownership, and that means—that means Medicare for All, that means, like, a deep investment in real social service programs.”

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Mamdani Appoints Woman Named ‘Afua Atta-Mensah’ As Chief Equity Officer

Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani named Afua Atta-Mensah as the city’s new Chief Equity Officer and commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity & Racial Justice on Thursday.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old Ugandan-born, Indian-descent avowed socialist, was sworn into office on Jan. 1 and has been appointing allies to key posts since taking power. In a social media post, Mamdani announced appointing Atta-Mensah and said she built her career serving communities that rarely gain access to decision-makers. He tasked her with carrying that focus across city government.

“Afua has dedicated her career to serving the New Yorkers who are so often forgotten in the halls of power. In this new role, she will advance that mission across our government and deliver a more equitable city for all,” Mamdani wrote. “That work starts with finally fulfilling the city’s promise of a Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan and embracing the diverse fabric that makes our city special.”

By the time Mamdani announced Atta-Mensah’s appointment Thursday, her X account had been deactivated, the New York Post reported. City Hall said the administration does not require newly appointed officials to delete their social media accounts.

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NYC Advisor Seeks to End All Homeownership

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohan Mamdani appointed Cea Weaver to lead the city’s Office to Protect Tenants. Weaver believes that homeownership is inherently racist and must be reformed into “a world in which the housing is owned by a collective.” According to Weaver, the US can simply continually print money to support government spending.

The claim that a government can simply print money to support endless spending is one of the most dangerous myths ever sold to the public. When politicians have exhausted every honest means of funding government, they are left with nothing but deception. This line of thinking is precisely why the government shut down at the end of 2025. Politicians believe they can increase spending indefinitely with no regard for the ticking time bomb that is government debt.

Printing money is another form of taxation, albeit a far more destructive form because it is hidden. Inflation will rise when the money supply expands beyond productive output. Governments print to fund their spending and dilute the currency. Politicians have lost all discipline because government continually votes to raise budgets and prolong the problem. The debt crisis has been rapidly snowballing in magnitude; those in power have zero intention of paying it off, but the time will come when the bill is due.

The irony is that those advocating unlimited money creation claim it helps the poor. In reality, it does the opposite. Inflation destroys savings, raises prices beyond reach, and transfers wealth to the elites controlling the money. It widens inequality while pretending to fight it. Hence why Venezuela went from one of the world’s top economies to poverty-ridden nation in a short period of time. These people are extremely dangerous. Voters propel them into power on the basis of lies, and then they have the ability to begin altering policies. Mamdani may be limited to his city but no economy can be viewed in isolation and voters refuse to see the mirage of easy solutions to complex problems.

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