Why New York yuppies love Zohran Mamdani’s socialism

American Thinker ^ | October 30, 2025 | Joseph Ford Cotto

[Judge Bean]

It’s one of the strangest spectacles in modern American politics. The high-flying professionals of New York’s white-collar class are now marching behind an avowed socialist, Zohran Mamdani. These are the same lawyers, traders, and tech specialists who once embodied the American dream.

His campaign thrives not in the boroughs where poverty festers but in luxury neighborhoods like Park Slope and Williamsburg, where median household incomes exceed $200,000—he’s even captured 43% of the overall Jewish vote, with that number rising to a whopping 67% when you look at the voters between the ages of 18 and 44. Furthermore, a brand new poll out this morning shows that Mamdani now holds a staggering 25-point lead over Andrew Cuomo.

That support exposes less a moral awakening than a crisis of a lack of self-control. Mamdani’s backers are not victims of capitalism’s failures but of their own overreach. They lived beyond their means, inflating lifestyles that no paycheck could sustain, and now look to government to subsidize the consequences.

His promises include rent freezes, free childcare, and public ownership of utilities. They sound like lifelines to people who have confused debt with success. Yet they are fiscal landmines, guaranteed to make the city’s affordability crisis even worse by strangling investment, draining tax revenue, and driving employers away.

For all their prestige and pay, many of Mamdani’s supporters feel trapped in an illusion of prosperity. Median rents in Brooklyn now devour over 40 percent of take-home pay for a basic two-bedroom apartment. In Williamsburg, professionals earning $150,000 or more share apartments into their 30s because the median rent for a one-bedroom tops $2,480. Over 65,000 households earning between $100,000 and $300,000 surrender at least a third of their income to rent.

[9YearLurker]

This isn’t new and Tom Wolfe had it pegged perfectly decades ago. Political opinions are a key accessory for this type:

https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Chic-Mau-Mauing-Flak-Catchers/dp/1250321883/ref=sr_1_8?sr=8-8

[AZJeep]

Socialists will eventually run out of other people money!

[cgbg]

Thanks for reminding us about that Wolfe classic—one of the best political books ever.

It is also hilarious.

[cgbg]

The “freebies” may exist in theory—but since it is NYC there will be seventeen different forms to fill out that will have to be hand delivered and signed in person at eleven different locations within twenty four hours.

Lol.

[Hildy]

If you can’t afford to live in New York City, then move

[Tired of Taxes]

"His campaign thrives not in the boroughs where poverty festers but in luxury neighborhoods . . . , where median household incomes exceed $200,000. . . . .
"Mamdani’s backers are not victims of capitalism’s failures but of their own overreach. They lived beyond their means, inflating lifestyles that no paycheck could sustain, and now look to government to subsidize the consequences. . . ."
"... many of Mamdani’s supporters feel trapped in an illusion of prosperity. Median rents in Brooklyn now devour over 40 percent of take-home pay for a basic two-bedroom apartment."

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^^ Right there ^^ is what's really happening. Many people with high incomes overspend, and they aren't willing to budget.

I never made much money. Yet, I've long been able to afford a mortgage* or rent 65% of my income, even when I was raising kids.

* (40% of my mortgage was property tax.)

NO welfare. NO food stamps. NO Medicaid. My kids didn't even go to public school.

I budgeted carefully, and I had zero debt. But people with twice my income complain they can't make ends meet.

It's time for me to take back... or write a book. Maybe both.

[JimRed]

They think they’ll get “free stuff”. Wait until they find out the THEY are “the rich”!