Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired
HEO/GED
6-29-25
“You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry. Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong with capitalism.” – Martin Luther King 1966.
The stunning victory of Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary for New York City last week, has without doubt driven the US ruling class and the Democratic Party bigwigs in to a frenzy.
Not only is Mamdani a Muslim, his condemnation of Israel and calling the Zionist regime’s actions against the Palestinian people a genocide, did not upend his campaign despite numerous attempts by the big business media to do so; and this is in the city that is second only to Tel Aviv in its Jewish population.
This comes as no surprise. Israel’s barbaric slaughter of Palestinians, perhaps as many as 400,000 have been murdered over 20 months of relentless bombings, has had a huge effect on the US population, young Jews in particular. According to a Pew Research poll, 71percent of Democrats of ages 18–49 have a negative view of Israel in 2025, and 66 percent of Democrats 50 or older do too.
But it is Mamdani’s reform platform that was key to his victory and eventually led to a campaign of 50,000 volunteers, many of them rank and file union members, knocking door to door and visiting working class communities. He spoke directly to the needs and desires of the vast majority of the people in New York City.
His Proposals
He proposes to make all city buses free by 2027 and introduce a rent freeze on all rent-stabilised apartments. Rent freezes are not new and have been introduced by prior mayors. The average rent for a two-room apartment in New York City can vary between $4000 and $7000 a month depending on location. In addition, Mamdani is planning to establish a Social Housing Development Agency that would build publicly-owned, permanently affordable housing according to reports in the media. He also intends to create a new Department of Community Safety staffed by mental health professionals, crisis responders and outreach workers and has pledged to expand free school-meal programs to include city colleges, and to offer universal childcare and early education programs.
On immigrant rights, he will not allow the NYPD to assist ICE in rounding up immigrants for deportation and will defend New York City’s pledge as a sanctuary city.
He is also campaigning for a $30 an hour minimum wage.
Mamdani says his social reforms can be paid for by raising the corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent which would put it on par with the corporate rate in neighboring New Jersey, and imposing a 2 percent surcharge on individuals earning more than $1m per year.
He says these measures could bring in over $9 billion annually.
His platform is a relatively mild reformist program and is certainly not enough to bankrupt the city of New York. But we are in the belly of the capitalist beast here in the US so any attempt to return the wealth of the country that workers produce to us in the form of social services, is attacked as communism and anti-American.
As usual, the trade union leadership is relatively quiet but the UAW did endorse Mamdani back in December last year and Afscme Council 37 in NYC endorsed three candidates in the primary which has ranked choice voting so it will likely endorse him in November. Afscme is my former union and DC 37 is the largest council in the country.
There is a strong chance that Mamdani will prevail in the Mayoral election in November but there are already plans being hatched in the big business community to derail the campaign. The defeated Cuomo is staying on the ballot for that election and deciding whether he will run or not as an Independent.
Former mayor, and ex-cop Eric Adams, a Democrat, announced he will be running as an independent claiming Mamdani as lacking experience among other things. Adams was indicted for bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, (what’s AIPAC for heaven’s sake. By that measure the entire US political establishment is accepting illegal foreign campaign donations)
As for his tax proposals, they have to be approved by the legislature and in the interview above with CNN he gives some examples of the costs and effects on the big business community. While the interviewer was not openly hostile, CNN is compelled to make sure when he is talking about state run grocery stores, “….you're not looking at some, like Soviet Union, grocery stores on every corner that are going to be run by the government.?”. This country's mass media is something else. Mind you, the BBC is no different.
Despite what is really a mild reform platform, the level of panic from the capitalist class and its political representative, is formidable. Beside the name calling, Trump referred to Mamdani as "100% Communist Lunatic" and Adams has called Mamdani a “Snake oil salesman”, Mamdani has faced all the Islamophobic slurs and will no doubt have more to deal with as he picks up steam.
New York City’s money men are going on the offensive in the aftermath of the primaries result and are preparing to bankroll a candidate to stop his campaign in November. It appears likely to be Adams, and a judge dropped Adams’ indictment under pressure from Trump allegedly; what a coincidence.
Eric Adams and hedge fund manager, Democrat Daniel Loeb, (worth $3 billion plus), met with other business leaders and political brokers to discuss how to stop Zohran Mamdani’s forward motion according to reports in the press. From what I understand Loeb is a staunch supporter of the Israeli Apartheid regime like many billionaires. Billions of US taxpayer dollars to slaughter innocent people is no problem for them
“You want to have leadership that speaks to what New York is,” says Scott Rechler CEO of a Real Estate firm, “It’s the capital of capitalism.” The City 6-26-25
GOP megadonor John Catsimatidis (worth $4.1 billion) is organizing other billionaires in a united front for November and Bill Ackman (worth $9.1billion) another, social parasite, hedge fund manager, and Trump supporter has made it clear there are millions of dollars available to derail Mamdani’s Mayoral aspirations. Ackman makes his views very clear: "The problem, however, is that his policies would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country,"
Not only is Ackman wrong about Mamdani’s policies being socialist, they are certainly far from a disaster for NYC, even for billionaires like Ackman. Ackman and the big capitalists concern is that any steps that favor even in the slightest, the worker over the capitalist, or the public over the private, are a dangerous precedent to set. The anger he knows exists among millions of US workers and poor is always in danger of bursting on to the scene with a vengeance.
But this early offensive is just the shot across the bow. If Mamdani wins the Mayoral race in November, there will be as major offensive from the entire US capitalist class, its media, its political parties, the pulpits of the Evangelical Protestant movement and some other religious institutions, along with the right-wing podcasters and talk show hosts.
And this is to unseat or block the policies of a candidate in a capitalist party and who is a supporter of the capitalist system.
Mamdani will have to have a plan to confront this “shock and Awe” approach from the US ruling class if he does not want to end up in the same sinking ship as Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. He needs to stand apart from their approach. He is in the Democratic Party which is an obstacle but he must make it loud and clear in his speeches and to his supporters that he will be facing an all out capitalist offensive in November and particularly after, if he emerges victorious.
He has an opportunity, like Sanders did in 2016 and beyond, to open a pathway to a genuine working class movement against the intensifying offensive of capital in the US. He needs to spread the campaign to other cities and turn 50,000 volunteers in to 5 million and begin a process of building links between different areas of the country.
New York City cannot function without the support of the city’s unions, particularly the public sector, but also the dock workers for example. Mamdani must appeal to the rank and file support he has to wage a campaign within their unions to join this movement. One way or another he has to point to the immense potential power of organized labor and how that power combined with the unorganized and the rest of the working class is unstoppable. The first Amazon union was won in New York City. This power must be mobilized, his enemies are mobilizing as I write.
He needs to demand without apology, that society provides, and can provide, what people need to live a decent and secure existence. He must clearly explain and condemn the likes of Ackman and the capitalist class for denying the American people, not only happiness, but the pursuit of it.
Another major enemy is the Democratic Party old guard. In my view this major capitalist party will not be the party through which the working class and all oppressed people can resolve the crisis of capitalism that is the root cause of the problems Mamdani is claiming to resolve. He can point this out ahead of time and make it clear that if the party old guard is in the way then a break from that party and the building of an independent working class alternative to the two big business parties will be on the agenda.
One of the reasons some workers are attracted to right wing ideas and authoritarian leading figures is, the weak, super woke, identity politics alternative of the Democrats. Power attracts, and most workers know that we are in for a serious battle, look at how our own government treats us. Where are the union leaders or workers’ leaders that are calling for mass violation of anti-union anti-worker laws? They see the right wing and Trump quite willing to do what they want regardless of the US constitution which is a revered, almost divine document to many Americans. Act first and see what happens, is their approach.
Mamdani and anyone like him must not only warn workers and his supporters that we are up against a ruthless foe and we have to act accordingly. We have the numbers, we have the power.
It is positive that Mr. Mamdani doesn’t shy away from being a Democratic Socialist. He needs to champion equally as much the socialist aspect of this. Capitalism is a wasteful system. It cannot feed people. It cannot provide health care to people. It cannot address the climate crisis. It cannot put people to work, provide decent education or transportation.
The US post office (USPS) is the most efficient business in the US. It delivers mail to you wherever you live in this country. It doesn’t have to make a profit, it’s a public service. Our public services are poor when compared to other industrialized countries. The likes of Ackman, Gates, Musk, all the billionaires, have no qualms defending policies and laws that lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. While I reject his failed methods, the guy that assassinated the health care CEO had tremendous support from millions of US workers as health care is such a disgrace here.
If the private sector can’t provide jobs, provide mass transit, health care, decent public education and the necessities we need to live a decent life, then the major corporations here that are practically a dictatorship over US economic life must be taken under public ownership.
As the battle heats up the billionaires, and others, will go on a strike of capital or withdraw it completely. They will threaten to move house. They have no loyalty to any country or any community, their world is global and they will take their capital elsewhere. The answer to that must be to stop them, to take under public ownership the financial industry, banks etc. They don’t hesitate to take your house and home so don’t fret it.
They have a right to live a decent life but not if it results in. users for millions of others.
The rich are hated in this country. There is a serious mood for change and people like Mamdani, the politic representatives of capital and the trade union leadership know this and are also afraid of it. The so-called liberal elements, like the labor hierarchy are forced to appeal to this immense social power to wring concessions from the bosses’, and it has amounted to a slower death as they always have to keep this power contained; they just need to let off some steam. Workers have had enough of that. The Democratic party electorally is one way and the massive increase of the security state, as exampled by ICE is another form of this containment.
Another opportunity knocks, this time for Zohran Mamdani. It’s up to him whether he takes it or not.
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