Mamdani’s Damage Will Go Far Beyond the 5 Boroughs

“Together, we can tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor, defund the police & build a socialist New York,” Zohran Mamdani tweeted in 2020. On his current mayoral campaign website, he calls for shifting the city’s tax burden to “richer and whiter neighborhoods.”

These aren’t slip-ups or stray remarks. They are at the heart of his campaign for mayor of New York City this November. And if he wins, the fallout won’t just be felt here. It will ripple far beyond the five boroughs, dragging down not only New York but the nation as well.

I know a lot of Americans will shrug and say: “Well, New Yorkers get what they deserve.”

I get that reaction. I really do. Everyone has seen the footage of the spoiled brats at Columbia University taking over buildings and shouting in the faces of cops, and thought these idiots should be put on a slow boat to Venezuela or some other socialist paradise.

But those people aren’t the ones who will bear the brunt of Mamdani’s experiment. Most of them aren’t even native New Yorkers. They’re mostly shipped in from leafy suburbs that are glad to get rid of them.

The real casualties will be New York’s middle class—the cops, firefighters, and nurses who hold this city together. My own family is full of them. I was born in the Bronx, surrounded by firefighters and police officers who worked brutal shifts and risked their lives every day for their neighbors. These men and women aren’t radicals. They’re the ones who keep the city running, and they’re the ones who will get squeezed the hardest.

Mamdani’s platform is as destructive as it is delusional: $10 billion in new taxes on high earners and businesses, a $30-an-hour minimum wage by 2030, rent freezes, so-called free buses, so-called free child care, and even city-owned grocery stores.

This isn’t some bold new vision. It’s the same tired socialism that has failed everywhere it’s been tried. And just like everywhere else, it risks hollowing out the very tax base that pays for everything else.

Here’s the thing: the top 1% of New Yorkers, those making around $800,000 and up, pay nearly half the city’s income taxes, per the 2023 NYC Independent Budget Office. If just 2% of them leave, the city could lose $5-$10 billion every year hedge fund manager Bill Ackman estimates.

Who makes up the difference? Not the wealthy, who can relocate to Florida or Texas with ease. Not the poorest, who qualify for welfare and public housing.

The burden falls squarely on the middle class. On the firefighters, cops, nurses, and small business owners who can’t simply pack up and leave.

And when the city runs short? It’s not Mamdani’s leftist base that suffers most. It’s working families.

But the danger doesn’t stop at the five boroughs. New York isn’t just any city. It’s America’s economic engine, producing $1.1 trillion in gross domestic product last year alone. The city is also a cultural beacon. The skyline, Broadway, the Met, the museums, and the energy that has always stood as a symbol of American ambition.

If Mamdani’s socialist experiment drives away wealth and enterprise, New York could spiral into decline. Businesses will fail, jobs will disappear, the economy will shrink, and America will lose far more than tax revenue. We’ll lose a piece of our national identity. A city that once represented freedom and opportunity will become a cautionary tale about what happens when ideology trumps reality.

There’s a better path. New York doesn’t need to punish success to support its workers. It needs leadership that understands wealth isn’t the enemy. It’s the engine of opportunity. Smart tax policies, incentives for businesses, and targeted relief for the middle class can keep the city both compassionate and competitive.

Because if New York falls, it won’t just be New Yorkers who suffer. We will all be worse off. And as someone whose family has given their lives and labor to this city, I can tell you: We can’t afford to let that happen.

Punishing success punishes everyone. Mamdani’s vision might appeal to radicals who think money grows on trees. But for the middle class that actually makes the city run, it’s a disaster. And for the country, it’s a warning. If America’s greatest city falls to socialist decline, nobody wins.

Nora Sullivan is a Washington, D.C.-based writer and communications director at Movement Funding. She holds a master’s degree in public affairs from University College Dublin.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal by Nora Sullivan.

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.