Mamdani Is Making a Case for Being One of New York City’s Worst Mayors

By Conor, Contributor
August 10, 2025 – 4:00 PM CST, Chicago, IL

New York City has survived fiscal crises, political scandals, rising crime and decades of questionable leadership. But Mayor Zohran Mamdani is quickly building a record that could place him among the city’s worst mayors — not simply because of his ideology, but because of the economic risks and political turmoil surrounding his agenda.

Mamdani entered office promising to make New York more affordable. Instead, much of his approach has centered on expanding government programs and finding new sources of tax revenue to pay for them.

Earlier this year, Mamdani confronted a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall while pushing Albany to increase taxes on corporations and wealthy New Yorkers. His administration also raised the possibility of a substantial property-tax increase if additional revenue could not be secured.

His tax agenda has already encountered problems.
New York City's new pied-à-terre tax targets certain high-value second homes and was promoted as a way to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. But its implementation quickly became controversial. Property owners challenged the tax in court, questions emerged about determining which properties qualify, and a judge temporarily blocked its implementation.

Mamdani is also moving forward with government-supported grocery stores. His administration plans five locations, one in each borough, where certain groceries would be offered at discounts. The city would subsidize expenses including rent and taxes while private operators manage the stores.

The proposal is intended to reduce food costs, but it has also generated concerns from independent grocers and small businesses that would be expected to compete against stores receiving government support.

Housing has become another ideological battleground. Mamdani has aggressively expanded tenant-focused policies while pursuing a broader affordability agenda that gives city government a larger role in New York's housing market.

That approach may appeal to renters frustrated by the city's enormous cost of living, but New York also depends on private landlords, developers, businesses and investors to maintain buildings, construct housing and generate the tax revenue that finances city services.

A mayor cannot simply redistribute New York into prosperity.
New York's greatest strength has historically been its ability to attract people willing to build businesses, invest capital, develop property and take enormous financial risks. Policies that make those activities increasingly expensive or politically undesirable risk weakening the economic engine that pays for the very programs City Hall wants to expand.

Mamdani has unquestionably pursued some policies with significant public support, particularly efforts aimed at lowering childcare, housing and food costs. His administration has also introduced reforms intended to shorten approval timelines for affordable housing development.

But affordability cannot be measured solely by how many services government subsidizes.

Taxes matter. Housing supply matters. Private investment matters. Small businesses matter. Government competence matters.

If New Yorkers ultimately pay higher taxes while businesses face greater government competition, property owners face additional costs and ambitious spending programs become increasingly difficult to finance, the affordability agenda could produce the opposite of its intended result.

Mamdani still has years remaining in his term, so history has not rendered its verdict. But if his administration continues down a path of higher taxation, expanding government intervention and costly promises without producing a substantially more affordable city, New Yorkers may eventually remember his mayoralty not as the transformation they were promised, but as one of the most damaging experiments City Hall ever attempted.