New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is learning the lesson every left-wing activist eventually does: slogans are easy, governing is not. Campaigning is about promises and applause; running America’s largest city means balancing a budget, keeping services running, and making real tradeoffs — all without detonating the fragile coalition that put you in office.
The grinning socialist is starting to realize that both he and the Big Apple are staring down a serious fiscal mess — and his answers are as predictable as they are reckless. According to Zohran Mamdani, the blame belongs to everyone else: first former Mayor Eric Adams, with an assist from disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
When finger-pointing isn’t enough, Mamdani reaches for the panic button, warning darkly of a looming “Great Recession” — as if fearmongering can paper over bad math. And when that fails, he dusts off the progressive holy grail: tax the bejesus out of wealthy residents and businesses and pretend there won’t be consequences.
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He may eventually discover — just like his progressive counterpart Gavin Newsom — that soaking the rich doesn’t magically fill budget holes. It just sends taxpayers packing, along with their jobs and their money. But for now, that’s a problem for later:
? JUST IN: New Yorkers are in a state of SHOCK after Ugandan Mayor Zohran Mamdani says NYC now faces a "fiscal crisis at a scale of the GREAT RECESSION"
His plan: "Raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and profitable companies."
Yikes. Best of luck, NYC.pic.twitter.com/CchzRUwnjo
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 28, 2026
But no, wait, argued Mamdani – it’s really just going to be easy:
During a press conference on Wednesday, Mamdani accused Adams of underbudgeting important services that NYC residents “rely on every single day,” while “quietly leaving behind enormous gaps for the future.” Mamdani also accused former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of extracting NYC’s “resources” and using the city’s revenues to “address state level holes, while withholding from the city what it was owed.”
“There is a massive fiscal deficit in our city’s budget to the tune of at least $12 billon. We did not arrive at this place by accident. This crisis has a name, and a chief architect,” Mamdani said. “In the words of The Jackson 5, it’s as easy as ABC. This is the ‘Adams Budget Crisis.’”
“We are speaking about a fiscal crisis at a scale greater than the Great Recession,” Mamdani maintained.
But you can see where this is going, can’t you? The ’eminent risk’ is so great that it’s high “timie for the rich to pay their fair share.” Gee – how many times have we heard Democrats/socialists use that lie to justify raising taxes?
It will require us to pursue every single avenue. That means looking inward into savings and efficiencies, that also means raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers, and the most profitable corporations.
And by ‘raising taxes,’ he’s not talking about a fractional increase:
During the press conference, Mamdani added that “if the top 1% of New Yorkers pay an additional 2% in income taxes,” they would not only be able to put NYC “back on firmer financial footing, but also build a strong city for everyone,” the Gothamist reported.
Needless to say, Adams wasn’t simply going to take Mamdani’s blame game, so he fired back on social media:
In case anyone was wondering, this was the real motive behind today’s press conference.
Mayor Mamdani promised a laundry list of “free” giveaways to buy votes, with no plan to pay for them. Now that the math doesn’t work, instead of owning the fact that he misled New Yorkers, he’s blaming me.
Let’s be clear: I left him over $8 BILLION in reserves.
This is the same Mamdani who spent years attacking me for not spending enough during the migrant crisis.
The only reason those reserves exist is because I ignored him and his socialist comrades who demanded we blow billions more with no guardrails.
“Free” isn’t free. It’s just a bill someone else has to pay.
In case anyone was wondering, this was the real motive behind today’s press conference.
Mayor Mamdani promised a laundry list of “free” giveaways to buy votes, with no plan to pay for them. Now that the math doesn’t work, instead of owning the fact that he misled New Yorkers,… pic.twitter.com/QMRAOQ0lho
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) January 28, 2026
Mamdani is set to roll out his preliminary budget on February 17 — and based on what we’ve seen so far, expectations are low and apprehension is high. If the campaign theatrics are any indication, New Yorkers should brace for more ideology than arithmetic.
Everyone knew the Mamdani era would deliver drama, performative outrage, and hardcore socialist dogma dressed up as “bold leadership.” Now it’s here — and, unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what the city is getting.
