Thursday, October 1, 2026
The race for New York City mayor may seem like a local contest, but make no mistake: What happens in the five boroughs ripples across all of New York. The policies, taxes and signals that come from City Hall have real consequences for Nassau County’s economy, for small businesses that depend on the city’s vitality and for the future of our state.
That’s why the possible election of Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani should alarm every New Yorker — especially those of us who still believe in common sense, public safety and economic sanity. Mamdani’s far-left agenda would make the city unlivable for working families and toxic for businesses. And when businesses flee, they don’t stop at the city line — they take jobs, tax revenue and opportunity from all of us.
Mamdani has made clear what kind of mayor he would be. His priorities aren’t jobs, affordability or restoring safety. They’re about ideology. He’s promised to spend $65 million of taxpayer money to fund “gender-affirming” procedures for minors — children who aren’t old enough to vote, drive or, in many cases, even understand what’s being done to them. That’s not compassion, it’s recklessness.
Mamdani’s campaign is built on giveaways: free buses, free child care from infancy through pre-K, city-owned grocery stores, rent freezes and a $30 minimum wage. His “plan” to pay for all of it? Massive new taxes on anyone who’s successful. The result would be predictable: Businesses would leave and middle-class families would follow. New York City is already losing residents faster than almost anywhere in the country. Under Mamdani, the exodus would accelerate.
And his radicalism doesn’t stop at economics — it extends to ideology and public safety. He has refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a slogan rooted in violence against Jews and Israel. A city that has endured a surge in antisemitic attacks can’t afford a mayor who flirts with rhetoric that justifies them.
Nor can it afford a mayor who wants to keep the NYPD “emaciated,” as Mamdani himself has said. Law enforcement in New York is already demoralized and under siege. Morale is low, crime is up, and the sense of disorder that drove so many people to flee during the pandemic years still lingers.
Mamdani’s approach would dismantle what’s left of law and order in the nation’s largest city.
We’ve seen this movie before. When progressive ideologues run cities, chaos follows. In San Francisco, permissive drug policies and “equity” housing experiments have turned once-vibrant neighborhoods into ghost towns. In Chicago, soft-on-crime leadership has driven out families and businesses. A Mamdani administration would bring that same nightmare to New York — and by extension, to all of us.
It’s worth remembering that New York City’s fiscal meltdown in the 1970s began with similar utopian promises. Politicians spent money they didn’t have, raised taxes on those who did, and the city nearly went bankrupt. Wall Street refused to lend. The federal government said no. Basic services collapsed. History has a way of repeating itself when the same mistakes are made for the same reasons.
Beyond the policies, there’s something more troubling about the modern left that Mamdani embodies: a willingness to use division and intimidation to achieve political goals. Whether it’s mobs harassing officials in restaurants or activists shutting down public meetings, the culture of the far left increasingly excuses political violence. From the Ku Klux Klan to today’s campus agitators, history shows that extremism often cloaks itself in moral righteousness while undermining democracy itself.
With endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Mamdani would have powerful allies in Albany. That should send chills down the spine of anyone who still believes New York should be a place of opportunity, not ideology.
Long Island remains a bastion of stability, faith and family values — yet we are surrounded by dysfunction. The policies that wreck New York City don’t stop at the city line. They spread through taxes, migration and failed leadership. We’ve seen it before, and unless we speak up now, we’ll see it again.
New York doesn’t need a mayor who divides people, punishes success and undermines the rule of law. It needs leadership that restores balance and responsibility. If Mamdani wins, the city’s decline will accelerate — and Long Island, along with the rest of the state, will pay the price.
The choice before New Yorkers isn’t between left and right. It’s between stability and chaos. Let’s hope they choose wisely.
Ari Brown represents the 20th Assembly District.
