By Anouchka Ettedgui, Staff Writer
For decades, New York City has been a beacon of culture, ambition and resilience. It’s the place people come to chase their dreams, build a life for themselves and write their own stories. It’s the city of Broadway lights, corner bodegas and a subway system that, when it’s working, can take you anywhere. Yet lately, the story of NYC has taken a darker, more frightening turn.
New Yorkers consistently elect Democratic mayors and progressive city council members who promise change, reform, and justice. They make grand speeches and carefully crafted slogans. They say they’re fighting for “the people.” But what do we get? Chaos. Crime. Decline. It’s like a bad habit the city just can’t break.
In the name of “progress,” New York has gone so far left that it’s almost unrecognizable. Woke policies dominate headlines and destroy lives; rent and the overall cost of living are skyrocketing. The streets, once bustling with excitement, are now marked by homelessness, untreated mental illness and random violence that makes even lifelong residents think twice before walking alone at night. People pay thousands every year in taxes, yet they receive tiny apartments and endless garbage and sidewalks that double as encampments. Meanwhile, small businesses, the heartbeat of New York City, are closing at alarming rates. And it is not because New Yorkers have stopped wanting coffee, pizza or groceries. It’s because doing business here has become impossible.
This collapse did not happen overnight. It’s been ongoing for years because of bad leadership and blind ideology, and because politicians think catchy phrases are a substitute for actual results. They argue over buzzwords. They pass feel-good legislation with no plan for the fallout. They “reimagine” public safety while ignoring the people being hurt in the process. Families are packing up, businesses are leaving — the city that never sleeps can barely keep its head up.
Just when you think it couldn’t get worse, in comes Zohran Mamdani.
Let it be clear: Mamdani isn’t just another progressive politician. He’s a full-on member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He’s not interested in fixing the system; he wants to tear it down and rebuild it in the image of his far-left ideology. This is a man who openly calls for defunding the police, who paints landlords as villains and who thinks raising taxes and growing bureaucracy are somehow acts of compassion.
He sells this all under the labels of “equity,” “justice” and “reform,” but New Yorkers should know better by now. These aren’t solutions, they’re sugarcoated lies, nice words that hide the bitter reality of what those policies will actually do. Housing policies that punish property owners instead of creating more housing? Sugarcoated lies. Wanting to defund the police while violent crime has spiked in the last few years? Again, sugarcoated lies. Raising taxes on the very people and businesses who are still trying to invest in the city? You guessed it, sugarcoated lies.
The pitch is always the same: Promise fairness, deliver regulation. Promise compassion, deliver chaos. Mamdani has mastered the language of activism; he knows how to post the right graphics, which hashtags will gain traction, and how to sound bold and righteous in a tweet. But there’s just one problem: Governance is not activism. Slogans don’t pave streets. Tweets don’t keep neighborhoods safe. Instagram posts don’t fund schools. New York City has enough problems to fill a year’s worth of city council hearings: a housing crisis, a budget shortfall, mass migration to other states, collapsing infrastructure and a rise in crime. Adding Mamdani’s socialist wish list is like taking a house fire and pouring a few gallons of gasoline on it.
Still, he’s gaining supporters. Why? Because in New York politics, the echo chamber is strong. Disagree with the far left and you’re “privileged” or “dangerous.” Question the wisdom of defunding the police, and you’re accused of being against justice or racist. Push back on extreme tax hikes and you’re painted as siding with “the rich.”
But fighting for your city isn’t dangerous; it’s necessary. This isn’t about left versus right. It’s about survival versus self-destruction. Even lifelong Democrats should be asking: Is this really what we voted for? Is this the kind of future we want for our neighbors, our schools, our kids? Because the reality is, once you go far enough down this road, there may not be a way back.
The irony is that despite everything, the spirit of New York City hasn’t died. You can still hear it in the laughter of kids playing in Central Park, the chatter of tourists visiting from around the world and the hustle of small business owners who roll up their storefront grilles every morning. You can feel it in the resilience of people who refuse to give up on this city.
Resilience can only do so much when a radical like Mamdani takes power. And if people like Mamdani get more power, it will fade fast. The sugar-coated lies will continue, and the decline will accelerate.
If you love New York City, if you believe it can still be the city of opportunity, energy and possibility, it’s time to wake up. Stop being swayed by hashtags and slogans. Stop letting politicians sell you nice-sounding phrases that mask destructive policies, because New York City doesn’t need more sugar-coated lies. It needs honesty. It needs sanity. Say no to Mamdani, go out and vote to make sure a socialist who will destroy your city will not become mayor. Lastly, New York City finally needs leadership that works for the people, not for an ideology.
Photo Caption: Empty New York Subway
Photo Credit: Unsplash