Yesterday was the inauguration of New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani. His speech was remarkable, and I recommend watching it.
The man is a gifted political orator. He is also a very shrewd politician. I saw this in how he deftly deflected criticisms and proved to be a master of messaging. For instance, his campaign videos combined upbeat, joyful vibes with real policy statements.
I agree with The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie.
part of the genius of his major campaign ideas is that they can be deployed fairly quickly as tangible deliverables. they can help him build trust with voters as someone who does what he says he will do. and trust goes a long way!
That’s a shrewd move, to get early wins, because let’s face it. Mamdani’s mayorship is going to be watched as no other mayor’s term has ever been by the national media. A lot of people are going to be looking for failure, ready to pounce. It’s very important to certain people that he fail, because he makes powerful people nervous with his message. It’s already started.
One example of a potential early win is looking for ways to affect people where they live. One of the quiet truths of city politics that pundits often miss is that streets are where mayoral power is most direct and most consequential. Unlike housing, transit funding, or social services, reshaping how streets function doesn’t require years of legislative wrangling or permission from the state or federal government. A mayor can, largely on their own authority, decide whether streets prioritize speed or safety, cars, or people. That reality barely surfaced during the election as far as the pundits are concerned, even though it’s one of the clearest ways an administration can quickly change daily life in New York City.
The Eric Adams administration showed how easily that power can be squandered—or weaponized—to block progress. The next one has the opportunity to use it differently. While ambitious ideas like free buses demand serious funding and political buy-in, bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements are far more within reach. The shift from a mayoralty that treated street reform as an inconvenience to one that appears inclined to embrace it doesn’t guarantee success, but it does open the door to meaningful, visible change. For the first time in a while, there’s a credible reason to believe the city’s streets could start working better for the people who actually use them.
He is also not wasting time addressing affordability. From the link:
Mamdani’s office released the following descriptions of the new task forces.
LIFT Task Force (Land Inventory Fast Track) will leverage city-owned land to accelerate housing development, increase supply, and drive down costs. The task force will review city-owned properties and identify sites suitable for housing development no later than July 1, 2026. LIFT will be overseen by Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg.
The SPEED Task Force (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development) will identify and remove bureaucratic and permitting barriers that drive up costs and slow housing construction and lease-up, making it more affordable to build and easier to access housing across New York City. The task force will be overseen by Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning, and Julia Kerson, Deputy Mayor of Operations.
Good stuff. I will add two things about Mamdani. First is regarding the increasingly tiresome argument that he doesn’t translate anywhere outside of New York City, as if his message and ideas are insanely radical. Team Overpaid Failed Political Consultants might not like this, but a lot of Americans want this from their Democratic politicians:
Mamdani: I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.
The secret sauce of Mamdani is something that can be translated elsewhere. Americans are tired of consultant speech, of statements about “kitchen table issues” that are rambling and vague. His words cut to the chase and hit people where they are. He is specific, hopeful, and willing to swing for the fences in ways that are both small and large. In a time when corruption is running rampant in the Republican Party and sometimes our own party leadership is welcoming back corrupt politicians like Henry Cuellar, his pledges to overcome the biggest obstacle to progress, corruption, are breaths of fresh air.
He also bucks the neoliberal tendencies of the party, going back to Bill Clinton, that led us to this point, where the Wisened Reasoned Stance is so declared to be one of super slow progress. Instead of an America that does great things, the neoliberals created a political environment that immediately dismisses ideas with How Are You Going to Pay for That? without ever considering whether the idea is actually good or not.
Such messaging and policy ideas can be fine-tuned for different regions. But to a lot of us, a politician like Mamdani, who really seems to love people, has shrewd ideas, and a plan to implement them, is someone we would like to see running our local and state government. Someone who establishment politicians were so freaked out by his rise that they immediately began to lie about them (shame on you, Kristin Gillibrand, for echoing racist right-wing talking points).
I hope someone in the DNC is taking notes.
The last word goes to The Beastie Boys.