Posted on 01/04/2026 5:29:50 AM PST by MtnClimber
In New York, officials elected in November take office on January 1. And thus, on New Year’s Day 2026, we had the inauguration of our new Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Can you feel the excitement?
For myself, not so much. The best I can say is that this too shall pass. Hopefully without too much destruction in the meantime, but we have no assurance of that.
And yet it seems that plenty of people really do feel excitement. I’m not making this up. For example, here is the big piece on the inauguration from the New York Times. Excerpt:
The message from the stage was unmistakable: In New York City, the left is ascendant. And to national Democratic leaders struggling to regain the party’s footing, Mr. Mamdani’s victory and the excitement surrounding it may suggest a path forward.
None other than Senator Bernie Sanders showed up to administer the oath of office (on a Quran!). Sanders got to utter a few remarks. He said that Mamdani embodied “hope” and “vision.” From the Times:
“New York, thank you for inspiring our nation,” Mr. Sanders said. “Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create government that works for all, not just the wealthy and the few.”
CNN was able to capture the excitement of a gaggle of attendees at the event. For example, there was Jen Shoemaker, who moved to New York from New Orleans 14 years ago, and recently served as a Mamdani campaign volunteer:
“Everybody’s so energetic. We’re so ready for Zohran,” said Shoemaker, who arrived more than two hours before the inauguration began. “We need Democrats with backbones and Zohran has one.”
Here is a picture of Ms. Shoemaker from CNN:
And from lifelong New Yorker Fernando Restrepo:
[Restrepo] said he’d never attended a mayoral inauguration in the city before but was inspired to come out because of the message of hope and unity he felt Mamdani’s election represented.
Teen Vogue was also on the scene, collecting some choice quotes. Here’s one from someone identified only as “Rawlins”:
“I am excited for him to make New York more affordable and make New York for the people again instead of just the fricking rich people.”
Over at NPR, they get a quote from an attendee named Enid David:
“I believe in what Zohran is going to do. I believe in his mission. I believe in his plan, and I think he can make it happen.”
You get the picture.
What the future in fact holds for New York is a continuation, and likely acceleration, of its ongoing decline relative to the rest of the country. When I moved to New York in 1975, the population of the state was 18.1 million, while Florida’s population was 8.4 million. Today, New York State’s population is about 20 million, while Florida’s is nearing 24 million. Over the same period, New York City’s population, like the State’s, has inched up, from about 7.5 million to about 8.5 million.
New York, City and State, represent a tremendous missed opportunity. We created the world’s greatest economy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and ever since we have gradually undermined it by over-taxation and over-regulation. People genuinely want to live here, but many of the most productive are driven away by overtly hostile government.
As I have previously pointed out, there is a limit to what Mamdani can do as Mayor of New York City to accelerate the destruction. However, he gives every indication that he will try his best to do the maximum damage possible. From his inaugural address:
“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
How about fear of being deemed a moron?
“Fast free buses” was a strange campaign promise. The subways move far more people daily. I think the key word was free.
I EXPECT HIS ERECTION WILL SOON BECOME DEJECTION
“Those of us raised in the south should know better, so I don’t know what my brother was thinking, but he’s stuck with her now. And he wonders why family has drifted away.”
Yeah, that sucks. I suspect that he was thinking that rational arguments would work with anyone, if given enough time. Lots of people here think that, which is our greatest weakness. We know enough that when we see a retarded person, he won’t be doing cutting-edge Particle Physics research, instead we feel pity and there is NOTHING we can do about it. Likewise, we need to learn that when we see a college-educated woman calling for Open Borders, we need to pity them, but also defeat them at the ballot box (regardless of whether we’re stuck voting for a RINO, by the way).
bookmark
Green hair for everyone!
“I’ll say it again, Mamdani’s win was pure TDS, nothing more.”
The bad news is that there are enough nuts with TDS in NY to elect him.
Feelings. The coin of the realm for the left.
Mayor Mamdani: Can You Feel The Excrement?
There, I fixed it
Collectivism: in a drunken guffaw, the voters shoot holes in the bottom of their boat. They will then demand more liquor and bullets.
Taylor Swift - who has become politically Hard Left in her middle age - owns an entire floor of a building in a trendy Manhattan neighborhood.
All of them must realize that huge real estate taxes are on the way, and there is nothing they can do to stop that.
Maybe Mamdami can take Taylor’s apartment, give her one bathroom and give the rest to 30 homeless people. Saul Alinsky RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
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