Three weeks from today: A radicalized NYC, brought about by ranked-choice voting

Three weeks from today, New York City voters will choose their next mayor, and pollsters say the outcome looks all but decided.

Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens, is projected to win the Nov. 4 election by a wide margin.

The race narrowed quickly after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams withdrew in late September amid sagging approval ratings, hovering around 28%, and federal probes into his 2021 campaign fundraising. With Adams gone, the field now features three well-known but sharply contrasting candidates:

• Zohran Mamdani (Democrat-Socialist): A progressive firebrand whose platform includes rent freezes, fare-free public buses, universal childcare, and city-run grocery stores.
• Andrew Cuomo (Independent): The former governor, running on his own “Fight and Deliver” line after losing the Democratic primary, positioning himself as a centrist focused on anti-corruption and economic recovery.
• Curtis Sliwa (Republican): The Guardian Angels founder and 2021 nominee, running again on a message centered on public safety and animal rights through the “Protect Animals” ballot line.

In heavily Democratic New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans six to one, the Democratic nominee almost always wins the general election. Mamdani’s decisive primary win on June 24, defeating Cuomo 56.4% to 43.6% after ranked-choice tabulation, cemented his front-runner status.

His platform includes higher taxes, which may lead to an exodus among high-earning New Yorkers. He intends to raise corporate tax to 11.5% (from 7.25%), add a new all-income tax on earnings of over $1 million, and a 2% “mansion tax” on properties valued at more than $5 million. This is what he said will generate $10 billion annually for social programs.

Mamdani also favors a city-wide rent freeze for over one million apartments, and plans to build 200,000 “affordable” units via public developers. He intends to end “good cause” evictions, which occur when landlords have had enough of bad renters.

He also plans to enact “free” universal childcare, free buses citywide, and create publicly owned grocery stores that will compete with private businesses. He will reduce police roles and replace them with mental health counselors.