Tag: new york

Mamdani Burns Through New Yorkers’ Goodwill as the Grim Realities of Governance Hit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is eight months into his term of office, and reality has stepped up and whacked him upside the head.

He had a decent start. After fulfilling a campaign promise to “tax the rich,” Mamdani saw three of his endorsed candidates coast to primary victories. He also presided over a feel-good moment when he joined the celebration of the New York Knicks’ first championship in more than 50 years.

But at some point, Mamdani had to come back to Earth. His anti-Israel rhetoric has become more toxic since the election, leading to a drop in his popularity ratings. He’s insulted the business community by making high-profile public appearances that directly target prominent corporate leaders, such as filming a promotional video outside the Manhattan residence of Citadel CEO Ken Griffin to announce new tax policy proposals. He also stacked the Rent Guidelines Board with allies to enforce rent freezes across roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments, publicly arguing that “landlords are doing just fine” and positioning real estate investors as profit-driven obstacles to affordable housing.

Leaders across real estate and finance have voiced frustration over his rhetoric, with CEOs arguing his messaging paints success as inherently suspect and actively drives investment and corporate headquarters out of the city.   

This week, “a judge swiftly paused a new tax on luxury second homes after a group of residents, including one of Mamdani’s own supporters, filed a lawsuit accusing the city of botching the rollout,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

What possessed Mamdani to post a list of more than 900,000 properties he claims “might” be subject to the new tax, but many more than likely won’t?

Justice Wayne Ozzi questioned why the list needed to be so broad. “I’m sure it caused concern amongst people,” the judge said. “Some may be embarrassed, some may be quizzical.” He also pointed out that the city had made “missteps” and criticized the administration for doing a poor job of vetting before sending out the mail notices. 

His rabid supporters are still “all in” with his socialist agenda. But others are not.

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OF COURSE: Mamdani Linked Anti-Rent Activist Grew Up as a Child of Wealth and Privilege

An anti-rent activist named Tracy Rosenthal, who has direct connections to the Zohran Mamdani campaign and administration, grew up in a million dollar apartment in Manhattan with her father, a Grammy winning recording artist.

Rosenthal now lives in a $2,300 dollar a month apartment in Brooklyn, but has not paid rent for years. Her previous landlord was foreclosed on, and now the bank is trying to remover her and other tenants for living in the building as squatters.

Meanwhile, Rosenthal makes videos and public appearances where she teaches people how to screw their landlords out of rent.

She is another communist nepo-baby who has lived a life of total wealth and privilege, while pretending to be a working class hero.

The New York Post reports:

A rent-striking, rising-star radical orchestrating the Mamdani administration’s socialist housing agenda is the daughter of a famed music studio owner who recorded rock legends like David Bowie, the Ramones, Blondie, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, the Foo Fighters and Coldplay, The Post has learned.

While framing herself as a champion of the proletariat, Tracy Rosenthal grew up in a trendy $1.7 million NoMad pad with elite access to the music industry — attending the Grammys at least twice with her dad, four-time winner Steven Rosenthal.

Her father recorded hit albums by some of the world’s biggest artists at the Magic Shop, the SoHo studio he founded in 1988, including Coldplay’s 2008 “Viva la Vida,” which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide; the Foo Fighters’ 2014 “Sonic Highways,” for which he was interviewed in the band’s HBO docuseries; and Bowie’s final album, 2016’s “Blackstar.”

Yet despite her first-class upbringing, she’s been on a four-year “rent strike” since moving back to New York City after a stint in Los Angeles — because the Bolshevik bugged out after spotting a cockroach in her hip $2,300 a month Bed-Stuy apartment…

She said the landlord refused to hire an exterminator, and after finding out the building had more rental units than were legally approved and was facing foreclosure, she organized with the other tenants to eventually stop paying rent, stiffing the owner of at least $108,000 on her unit alone.

In the video below from Stu Smith, Rosenthal talks to an audience about methods for not paying rent:

Tracy Rosenthal’s Strategy: Build Toward a “General Rent Strike” and Create a Crisis Big Enough to Force Concessions

This is one of the more revealing Tracy Rosenthal clips because she is explaining how she thinks the movement can force systemic change.

Asked what mass rent nonpayment would actually look like, Rosenthal describes a “long term strategy” of building enough scale to create the kind of “crisis” necessary to extract major political concessions.

“One way of thinking about abolishing rent is a permanent and general rent strike.”

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Mamdani’s Socialist Utopia Collides With Reality As Manhattan Rents Hit Record

Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani built his political campaign by relentlessly attacking America and, most importantly, portraying capitalism as the root cause of nearly every social problem, from affordability pressures to soaring rents.

Voters were sold the idea that his administration could deliver an instant utopian transformation built on free bus rides, government-run grocery stores, and cheap housing.

However, like every Marxist before him, Mamdani’s vision of utopia is not grounded in economic reality. The dream pitched to millions across the metropolitan area is now colliding with market reality: a continuing nightmare for renters. Even with Mamdani’s rent freeze and threat of a pied-à-terre tax, rents are still rising.

Delving into the granular data, a report from the New York Post, citing data from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, shows that Manhattan’s average monthly rent jumped to a record $6,655 in July, up 10% from a year earlier.

The median rent reached $5,295, a 6% increase from the same month one year ago, according to the data. Average rents rose across every apartment category, including 8% for studios to $4,088, 7% for one-bedroom apartments to $5,486 and 13% for two-bedroom apartments to $8,054. Three-bedroom apartments averaged $12,228, up 12%.

NYC’s rental vacancy rate has fallen to 1.49%, the lowest since 1968 and well below the 5% threshold typically associated with a landlord’s market. Separately, state data show that roughly 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat vacant in 2025

A severe housing shortage, elevated mortgage rates, and new rental regulations have intensified competition for available apartments. Let’s not forget that a recent Center for Migration Studies report showed that more than 500,000 illegal aliens live in NYC.

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TRUMP DOJ Sues New York, Connecticut, and Vermont for Giving Illegal Aliens In-State Tuition and Financial Aid While Americans Pay More

The Justice Department has now filed 17 lawsuits challenging state tuition benefits for illegal aliens, and says it will continue until American citizens are no longer treated as second-class students.

The Trump Justice Department is turning up the heat on three more Democrat-run states accused of placing illegal aliens ahead of American citizens.

On Monday, the Department of Justice filed lawsuits against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, challenging state laws that provide qualifying illegal aliens with in-state tuition rates, financial assistance, and scholarships unavailable on the same terms to American citizens living outside those states.

The DOJ alleges that the blue-state programs violate federal law, encourage illegal immigration, and force American students to compete under a system tilted against them.

Let that sink in: An American citizen living across the state line may be charged the full out-of-state tuition rate while someone unlawfully present in the country can qualify for taxpayer-supported benefits based on state residency.

In New York, the average in-state tuition and fees run about $8,300 while out-of-state students pay more than double. Connecticut and Vermont have long maintained similar two-tier systems that favor those who broke federal immigration law over American families from neighboring states.

According to the Justice Department, that arrangement directly conflicts with 8 U.S.C. § 1623. The federal statute generally prohibits states from awarding residence-based higher-education benefits to aliens who are not lawfully present unless the same benefits are available to U.S. citizens regardless of where they live.

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Judge Blocks Mamdani’s Pied-à-Terre Tax After Homeowners File Lawsuit

A New York judge on Monday temporarily blocked NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new pied-à-terre tax, which hits New Yorkers who own a valuable second home.

Last month, Mamdani implemented a so-called luxury property tax on second homes valued at $5 million or more. The property tax also affected certain co-ops valued over $1 million.

Mamdani doxxed the homeowners after his Department of Finance published a database listing the names and addresses of the 960,000 properties.

“As per State law, a property roll was released for public inspection. From this list, DOF will identify properties that may be subject to the new non-primary residence property surcharge,” a Mamdani spox previously told Fox News.

Affluent homeowners said the database and doxxing could lead to harassment and violence.

Homeowners filed a lawsuit in New York’s Supreme Court to stop Mamdani’s property tax

The lawsuit argues that New York City bungled the execution of the new tax by “arbitrarily and capriciously” forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to prove they do not owe the tax.

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NANNY STATE: Zohran Mamdani Launching City Government Babysitting Service so Parents Can Have a Date Night

Conservatives used to joke that the left was trying to turn the government into a nanny state. Now, Zohran Mamdani is taking it literally.

The New York City mayor is launching a service where people in the city can drop their kids off at the park to be looked after by government officials while the parents can have a date night. What could possibly go wrong?

Would you be comfortable dropping your kids off at a New York City park and then going out to dinner?

ABC News in New York reports:

Date night, anyone? NYC launching free babysitting program for parents

New York City is giving parents a chance for a night off through a new pilot program that will provide free child care for hundreds of families next month.

Mayor Mamdani announced the launch of “Parents’ Night Out,” a city-sponsored program that will offer free babysitting for up to 500 children on Aug. 16 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Registration opens at 8 a.m. Monday and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Every parent knows that a few hours to yourself can feel like a luxury,” said Mayor Mamdani in prepared remarks. “It shouldn’t be. That’s why we’re launching New York City’s first-ever Parents’ Night Out, so that parents can get a little time on their own to catch a movie, run errands or go on a date without worrying about who will take care of the kids – or how much it will cost.”

The program is open to families with children ages 6 to 13 and will provide free child care at designated city recreation centers.

City officials say the initiative is designed to give parents and caregivers a break while children participate in supervised activities.

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REPORT: More Than HALF of New York Students Grades 3-5 Failed Basic Reading Tests This Year

More than half of students in grades 3-5 in New York state failed basic reading tests this year. It’s an absolute disgrace.

In New York City, they spend upwards of $40,000 on each student per school year. What is the money going to> Lessons on critical race theory and gender studies topics? Social justice activism?

Reading is one of the most basic and necessary skills that schools are expected to teach children. People who cannot read are absolutely doomed in adult life.

Part of this can be blamed on draconian school shutdowns during Covid but not all of it.

The New York Post reports:

NY 3rd-5th graders fail basic reading tests with more than half not even proficient: data

More than half of 3rd- to 5th-grade students in the Empire State failed their reading proficiency state exams this year, according to shocking new data.

Preliminary results released this week by the state Education Department that 57% of 3rd graders, 52% of 4th graders and 57% of 5th graders failed to make the grade on their 2025-26 English Language Arts tests.

City kids in grades 3-8 saw a 6% drop in their ELA scores from last year, with just about half overall rating proficient.

Overall, just 48% of students in the testing grades, 4th-8th, rated proficient on the ELA — a “significant” 5% plunge from the previous year, the department said.

Fifth graders saw the largest drop of any grade level, with those students’ reading proficiency declining by an incredible 14 points, according to the results.

In New York City — where about 40% of the state’s public school students are enrolled — the decline was even more concerning.

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Reality Bites: Socialist NYC Mayor Mamdani Turns To Capitalist Bankers For Help

After socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani went after Citadel’s Ken Griffin, created a property database of wealthy homeowners that makes the list easily accessible to “Luigi-worshipping leftist thugs,” and endlessly bashed America and capitalism, all while his friend, Democratic Socialists of America’s unofficial spokesperson Hasan Piker, called on his followers to “kill capitalists in the streets” and other DSA members called for the destruction of America from within, the far-left NYC mayor, who is running into roadblocks, has called on capitalist bankers for help.

Piker in his own words: “KiII those motherf**kers and murder those motherf**kers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their f**king red capitalist blood.” 

Bloomberg reports that Mamdani is seeking top capitalist bankers for a new business advisory council as he attempts to mend relations with Wall Street after spewing dangerous rhetoric against the very people who make the city go ’round.

Those invited include former UBS Americas Chief Executive Officer Robert Wolf, former Lazard investment-banking chief Antonio Weiss, and Bank of America’s New York City President Jose Tavarez, according to people familiar with the discussions.

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Communist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Given a New Nickname as Details Emerge Regarding His Remarkably ‘Thin-Skinned’ Behavior Behind Closed Doors

It turns out that Marxist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who presents himself as a smiling, smooth-talking salesman, is quite a different person behind the scenes. And it has spawned a new nickname which he won’t like.

The New York Post dropped a remarkable story on Thursday night, which extensively describes a mayor who becomes a nasty bully when things do not go his way.

The paper notes that Mamdani is easily angered not only by press criticism but also by people who dare to utter unflattering words toward him in public.

Mamdani even places personal phone calls to politicians he thinks will back off their attacks and eventually bow to him.

From the Post:

Social media-savvy Mayor Zohran Mamdani is developing a reputation IRL as “thin-skinned” and hyper-sensitive to public criticism, despite hyping himself online as a smiling and unflappable politician, scores of insiders spilled to The Post.

Behind the scenes, Hizzoner huffily badgers critics who dare question him publicly, harbors petty grudges against prominent pols, and often only responds to texts when he’s miffed about bad press, according to interviews with more than a dozen elected officials, consultants, and other politicos.

“I see more and more he cannot handle criticism, but mainly from elected officials who he thinks he can push around,” one political consultant said.

“The mayor personally reaches out when electeds criticizes him publicly. If they speak, then he cares. He cares because he doesn’t want bad press. It shows a sensitivity.”

A major sore spot for the narcissistic mayor is when he hears Jewish New Yorkers taking issue with his attacks on Israel. As we all know, Mamdani despises the Jewish State and has threatened to have Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu arrested.

Sources said the mayor personally called at least one elected official who attended the news conference, complaining about being told to tone down his rhetoric — and upset that their exhortation was connected to his video branding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” which was posted days before the attack.

NYC Democrat operatives and politicians went on to describe Mamdani as someone who uses his phone as “a security blanket” while obsessing over how many lies he gets on an X post.

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Feds Arrest Suspect in Juneteenth Arson of 173-Year-Old Brooklyn Church

The feds on Wednesday arrested a suspect in the arson of a historic Brooklyn church.

A historic church built around 1860 on Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, was engulfed in flames on June 19 – also known as ‘Juneteenth.’

The community was devastated after the landmark South Bushwick Church was destroyed by a three-alarm fire.

The steeple collapsed as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

24-year-old John Jones was taken into custody as he tried to steal a sandwich and donuts from a store on Broadway, according to The New York Post.

Jones was caught on video on the side of the church using a lighter to ignite the blaze.

According to The Post, Jones was arrested in late June on criminal mischief charges for smashing a tv at a restaurant and causing $900 in damages.

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