Mamdani Is the Right Leader For NYC. I Should Know—I Had the Job.

Each poison has its antidote. New York’s flagrant inconfordability can be confronted with policies that favor the needs of workers. The confusing inertia of the Democratic Party can be reversed by new daring progressive leaders. Trump’s assault on our freedoms can be resisted by popular movements related to people where they live. In my opinion, the mayor campaign of Zohran Mamdani offers New Yorkers a remarkable, if not unprecedented opportunity, to act on the three at a time.

Almost 100 years ago in New York, the largest progressive engine of the last century was born from the ashes of red fear, the 1920s and the great depression. Labor organizers, urban reformers and progressive visionaries experienced repeated setbacks at the beginning of the 20th century, but they continued to organize. When they found the right time and the right leaders, magic occurred.

The extraordinary human qualities and the political skills of Franklin Roosevelt and Fiorello La Guardia created a large part of what was good and progressive and sustainable about New York, our party and our nation. And we can be on the point of a golden moment.

Yes, the election of the mayor of this fall first concerns the immediate challenges that our city is faced, and in particular the question that matters most for voters: affordability.

And here, the contrast between Mamdani and his main rival, Andrew Cuomo, is the clearest. Cuomo was one of the very laminated NYC architects today. His bottomless capacity to “speak to the left by acting on the right” as the governor gave us a city where wealth has governed. Rather than using the sufficient power of New York State to boldly tackle the affordability crisis, Cuomo has always remained within the limits set by great donors and usual politicians.

Mamdani strikes his independence from the very forces that fed and forced Cuomo. This fact alone offers hope, but it is married to Mamdani’s ability to present a clear and substantial vision, to communicate it with emotion and to connect with people in the city districts.

Mamdani’s incessant emphasis on free buses, affordable daycare centers and rent freezing was immediately logical for many New Yorkers. Since his main victory, he has deepened support in certain parts of the city which did not initially support it – constituting a constant expansion coalition.

This combination of personal forces and political vision is rare, and it makes me think about my own trip. When I was elected mayor in 2013, I knew there was a progressive mayor to imitate fully, and I thought I knew the Le Guardia lessons. Older members of my family had spoken of him with such reverence that following his example seemed to me to be an ancestral mandate.

But I realized too late that trying to be a La Guardia of the last days required a shameless message and an omnipresent presence. He required a firm hand on the government’s wheel while constantly connecting to the lives of everyday New Yorkers.

My administration has achieved many significant progressive objectives (pre-K for all, days of paid illness, the minimum wage of $ 15 and the end of the Bloomberg Stop-Frisk policy). But I have often confused a good policy for a good policy, a classic progressive error.