Zohran Mamdani, the new Democratic Socialist (communist) mayor-elect of New York City clearly has no idea how he is going to pay for all of the supposedly ‘free’ buses he has promised to voters.
He was recently pressed on this issue by a reporter, and when he could not answer the funding question, he simply said that it’s more important that they get it done, not how they fund it.
That’s not how things work in reality.
Transcript via Real Clear Politics:
MAMDANI: Well, I think the mayor will find that he’ll have a tough time trying to stymie the momentum that we have as a campaign and as a movement, because more than a million New Yorkers came out to vote for our vision of making the city more affordable. I know that’s difficult for the mayor because he ran an administration where, for four years, he made it more difficult for those New Yorkers to afford this city.
And even one of the people he floated appointing to the Rent Guidelines Board is a star of a show that I think is called Selling New York, which in some ways is a description of what Eric Adams tried to do.
MANNARINO: But if he does it, does that put a foil — or at least a pause — on freezing the rent?
MAMDANI: I think it’s an obstacle, but it’s one that I think we can overcome.
MANNARINO: And the other one — talking about fast and free buses, and your meeting with the governor. I’ve heard you say many times that you don’t want to take money away from the MTA — you want to put money back in. And it’s something she agrees with, right? “We don’t want to take away money from the MTA.”
How are you getting that $700 million to make the buses free into the MTA if she’s not for raising taxes?
MAMDANI: You know, I think the two clearest ways to raise that money is through raising the state’s corporate tax to match New Jersey. A lot of this is still a case to be made — whether it’s the corporate tax or the personal income tax on those who make more than a million dollars a year. I think these are the clearest ways.
I’ve also said that if there are other ways to raise this funding, the most important fact is that we fund it — not the question of how we do it, but that we do it.
Here’s the clip:
Q: “How are you getting the $700M to make the buses free if the Governor is not for raising taxes?”
MAMDANI: “Through the raising of the state's corporate tax.”
Q: “But she said no…”
MAMDANI: “The most important fact is that we fund it, not the question of how we do it.” pic.twitter.com/rFiaHPAdSE
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) November 20, 2025
Mamdani’s mayoral work is going to be fun to watch. Painful, but also fun.
