In support of Zohran Mamdani

Unfortunately I don't have 8.3 million dollars to spend in support of a political candidate, but I do have my blog.

In the ongoing New York City mayor's race (specifically the Democratic primary), I'm supporting, canvassing and voting for my assembly member, Zohran Mamdani. His entire platform is centered around making NYC more affordable, specifically:

1. freezing the rent for rent-stabilized tenants (previously done by de Blasio)
2. making buses fast and free (he won a 1-year pilot on this, it was reasonably successful)
3. free childcare (I didn't have a parenthetical for this)

This is not to mention his various plans to build more housing, both creating new public housing and speeding up construction of private housing.

And he has a plan to create a "Department of Community Safety", which will task dedicated professionals and mental health experts on helping people with homelessness and other crisis response. And that will let police do actual police things.

I know for sure that he can deliver on the first part of his platform, freezing the rent, since the mayor appoints all the members of the rent control board. The rest requires collaboration from the city council and most likely Albany.

It's not a guarantee that it's possible, but if he wins, there will be a public mandate for it, and suddenly, it'll be realistic.

Ultimately I want a mayor who is willing to try new ideas instead of constantly being stuck doing what is "safe" and continuing old policies that have gotten us here. Zohran is that person and my #1 vote.

Brad Lander#

The more I learn about Brad Lander, the more I like him. Out of all the candidates (including Zohran), I think he is best suited to hitting the ground running as mayor on day one. He seems to have the best grasp on the NYC bureaucracy and has incredibly detailed and technical plans on how to address, well, everything.

I ranked him #2 (in line with Zohran's cross endorsement), but respect and support anyone who ranks him #1 and Zohran #2. If Zohran ends up winning, I hope he gives Brad Lander a significant role in his administration.

Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor#

I never actually lived in New York during Andrew Cuomo's tenure, but I've read enough from the time and everything that's come out since. The fact that he was governor for 10 years, and HUD secretary for another 4 means that he had the opportunity to fix it in the past, but didn't. It's time for new leadership.

I think this is a perfect example showing that letting people voluntarily resign under pressure is a bad idea; if he had been impeached and removed from office, there wouldn't have been a comeback.

Final thoughts#

Zohran has been a great representative for me, and I am looking forward to sharing him with the rest of the city.

I told someone once that I'm supporting Zohran because as my assembly member, he's the first elected official to represent me that I'm not embarrassed by. I don't mean that we agree on everything (we mostly do, but not 100%) — rather I think he has a good set of core guiding principles, and sticks by them in ways that are understandable and justifiable.

After having an incredibly embarrassing mayor for the past 4 years, I'm looking forward to one I respect and appreciate. I hope you'll rank Zohran #1 (and Lander #2).

Voting is open today, June 22 (9am-5pm), and then again for the last time on June 24 (6am-9pm).