The Democratic primary results: New Yorkers seem to want to slide further down the tubes
Yesterday, New York City’s Democrats held their mayoral primary. In New York, the winner of the Democratic primary ordinarily wins the election; the days of Republican mayors in New York seem to be over, as far as I can tell.
And the days of conventional Democrat mayors in New York may be over, as well. Yesterday’s winner was the youthful Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani, and the loser was Andrew Cuomo:
Mamdani, a 33-year-old self-described Democratic socialist, ran a campaign centered on making New York City more affordable. He proposed offering free universal child care, creating city-run grocery stores, rolling out free bus service and freezing rents on rent-stabilized units.
“As FDR said, democracy has disappeared in several other great nations, not because the people dislike democracy but because they have grown tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government confusion and weakness,” Mamdani told supporters Tuesday night after his call with Cuomo. “In desperation, they chose to sacrifice liberty in the hope of getting something to eat. New York, if we have made one thing clear over these past months it is that we need not choose between the two.”
Clear as mud – the answer is FREE STUFF! Soak those many billionaires, from each according his means and to each according to his needs. What could possibly go wrong? For starters, those billionaires could decide to leave the Big Apple.
The most left-leaning candidate in a crowded Democratic field, Mamdani relentlessly campaigned on raising taxes on the city’s billionaires to fund initiatives like free MTA buses.
While his rivals pledged to hire more NYPD police officers, Mamdani said he would instead expand mental health outreach teams to improve the social safety net.
Mamdani was also more critical of Israel than other candidates, prompting some to accuse him of fueling antisemitism, which the candidate denied.
Of course he did.
A little background on Mamdani [emphasis mine]:
Born in Uganda, Mamdani immigrated to the United States as a child and graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014. He worked as a housing advocate and rap music producer in New York City before entering politics. He was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 after defeating a four-term incumbent and has since been re-elected without opposition. …
His campaign platform includes support for free city buses, public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, and building affordable housing units. …
He graduated from the Bank Street School for Children, and then the Bronx High School of Science. Mamdani attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he co-founded the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies.
Mamdani seems to be an only child of very successful parents of Indian ethnicity. His father Mahmood Mamdani is a professor at Columbia, of course:
He is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and a professor of anthropology, political science and African studies at Columbia University, and also serves as the chancellor of Kampala International University, in Uganda. …
Mamdani specialises in the study of African and international politics, colonialism and post-colonialism, and the politics of knowledge production.
Zohran’s mother is the Indian film director Mira Nair. Born a Hindu, she directed some well-known films (I saw two of them and I enjoyed them, and I’m not that big a filmgoer) such as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding, and Salaam Bombay!. I especially enjoyed Monsoon Wedding, which had a light touch.
Nair shares her son’s anti-Israel sentiments – or perhaps, in terms of the timelines, he shares hers:
In July 2013, Nair declined an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival in Haifa, Israel as a “guest of honor” to protest Israel’s policies toward Palestine. Nair posted on Twitter, “I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone… I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over. I will go to Israel, soon. I stand w/ Palestine for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) & the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Mov’t.”
We also have this about Zohran Mamdani: he’s a Shiite Twelver.
And more about his stance on Israel:
Following the October 7 Hamas attacks, Mamdani condemned Israel’s military response and joined protests calling for a ceasefire. Rather than condemning the attacks, he criticized those attacked.
Of course he did.
He has also said he would arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New York City, despite there being no arrest warrant for Netanyahu in the US …
Mamdani drew controversy when he defended the use of the phrase “Globalize the intifada” as “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”
Mamdani isn’t the mayor yet, although at this point he’s the favorite. Adams, the current mayor, is running as an Independent. Cuomo might run, although I doubt it. And there’s even a Republican, Curtis Sliwa of Guardian Angels fame, who probably has no chance.
In this map you can see how every NY neighborhood voted; Mamdani’s strongholds were in Manhattan and in particular the western part of Brooklyn. He had been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, Letitia James, Jamaal Bowman, Ras Baraka, and Robert Reich. Quite a crew.
Trying to get a rundown of which groups of voters supported Mamdani, I found this poll taken shortly before the primary. It’s quite illuminating:
Voters under 50 break for Mamdani by a 2:1 margin, while Cuomo leads among those aged 50–59 (63% to 37%) and voters over 60 (56% to 44%).
Hispanic voters support Cuomo 60% to 40%, and Black voters favor Cuomo 62% to 38%. Mamdani leads among white voters (61% to 39%) and Asian voters (79% to 21%).
Cuomo leads Mamdani among voters without a four-year college degree, 61% to 39%, while Mamdani leads Cuomo among college-educated voters, 62% to 38%.
Men support Mamdani 56% to 44%, while women lean toward Cuomo 52% to 48%.
So the socialist’s support was very strong among the young – no surprise there. Ignorance of history, including the history of giving away free stuff. His support was also very strong among white voters and in particular Asian voters (do “Asian voters” include middle easterners?), and Cuomo’s was strong among black and Hispanic voters. So the blacks and Hispanics were not fooled by Mambani’s promises, and the white people who supported him may have been virtue-signaling. And of course the college-educated – those indoctrinated in leftism – were more likely to vote for Mambani.
The most surprising statistic to me was that women supported Cuomo more than men did.
Turnout in NYC was a bit under 30% of those eligible – and “those eligible” were registered Democrats only. I guess most Democrats don’t care; they’ll simply vote for the nominee no matter what. Or perhaps many will vote for Adams; I certainly don’t know, but I tend to doubt it. The main choices, Mamdani and Cuomo, were both fairly awful – although Cuomo certainly seems better to me – which is another indication of the terrible state of the Democrat Party. That won’t stop someone like Mambani from doing a ton of damage if elected.
I see many comments around the internet saying, basically, who cares what happens to New York? I do. It’s my hometown. I still have friends and family there. But it also indicates blue city trends, and this represents a terrible one. The left is still very strong in some places, and represents a danger to the entire country.
I went to the Wikipedia link but didn’t see anything about him being a Shiite Twelve.
Jon baker:
Under “personal life.”
After four years of Bide, the invasion of NYC by illegals, inflation, high crime, and foreign policy failures one would think that the Democrat/Socialist brand would be tarnished. One would be wrong.
It’s amazing how many people there are who still think that government will take care of them and solve all their problems.
We have been fighting against Communism in its many forms since the end of WWII. Yet the dream, in spite of many examples that it doesn’t work, persists. It’s amazing, and frightening. How do we put a stake through the heart of Communism??
I find it hard to mourn over Cuomo’s humiliation, but this certainly is not good for the city. I have no idea if Adams will be able to pull an upset as an independent.
I suppose a silver lining is that Mamdani is not the candidate responsible for the deaths of thousands of old people in 2020, nor the candidate forced to resign because he was “credibly accused” of sexual harassment.
But probably the voters did not even remember that these things happened, so few people nowadays seem able to remember things that happened even a month ago.
I don’t know how much New Yorkers yearn for socialism or communism. It may be that, or it may be the same desire that on the Right produced Trump. That the professional political class is corrupt and self-dealing and they want an outsider. Too bad they had to find an idiot, but to be fair plenty of people felt that way about Trump too. Cuomo has had many other scandals besides those I named, and definitely represents the establishment on the left.
mentioned here, I know consider the source,
https://jacobin.com/2020/02/zohran-mamdani-new-york-state-assembly-socialist-queens
and schumer has endorsed him,
A ugandan shia twelver seems a very niche audience,
https://x.com/StephenM/status/1937899143579517187
What could possibly go wrong? For starters, those billionaires could decide to leave the Big Apple.
I have an acquaintance who is a friend of a friend of mine. He is a hedge fund manager. And while the fund isn’t big or famous, he is very wealthy. Many years ago he spent the time, money, and effort to architect a new lavish home himself, and then hired another professional architect to edit &/or validate his designs. And then he built it in my central coast California town and his family moved in. We had dinner at this house once, and saw a movie in his “theater” room. The point of this is that he had a serious investment in living in California and I presume his wife liked the area a great deal.
In more recent years I have visited with him only on a couple occasions as he and his family now live in Florida. But they sometimes spend summers back in California while limiting their stay to X numbers of months per year so as to not trigger CA state income taxes. Since he is a “car guy” he has a number of cool cars, but he leaves none of them in CA. That could trigger tax problems again. So when he makes an extended trip to CA, he hires a car carrier firm to truck a few of them from Florida to CA.
That is a lot of messing around, all so he can save a lot of money, and give the state of California a big “F-U.”
OK, they guy is Intelligent, but stupid. When those White voters (hard to believe White Men support him) find out that to achieve his goals of free stuff, they will be taxed to destruction, maybe they will change. But I doubt it. The poorest and lower middle class will not benefit from the “Free Stuff” because it will not materialize. Govt Grocery stores will have empty shelves. Public trans port will be a lot more dangerous, and will not be maintained.
And when a Dem president (yes there will be one again) is in office, they will “rescue NYC, if it hasn’t completely collapsed.
No tears from me
He worked as a housing advocate and rap music producer
and the father:
a professor of anthropology, political science and African studies at Columbia University,
In other words, Dad is a professor of bullsh*t studies, and the son has never had a real job.
He had been endorsed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, Letitia James, Jamaal Bowman, Ras Baraka, and Robert Reich.
And free stuff for eberone will appeal to the mush brains, and Free Stuff Army.
How can he lose?
JWM
I’m not so sure it’s New Yorkers voting to slide downhill, as it is that serious politicians have decided that New York City is already so far gone that it’s not worth their careers to even try. There’s easier ladder-climbing to be had elsewhere. Thus the freaks and nutjobs are the only ones running, and voting.
I also grew up in NYC (in the 1950’s and ’60’s). The nostalgia and sadness for a once vibrant city and a great place to grow up runs deep. OTOH, I’ve spent most of my adult life in Massachusetts so I jumped straight from the frying pan into the fire.
Mamdani endorses the “River to the Sea” slogan regarding Palestine. “River to the Sea” means “Make Palestine Judenrein.” Get the Jew “settlers” out of Palestine. Which is ironic considering that Mamdani’s father was among the Indian “settlers” that Idi Amin kicked out of Uganda.
@neo: Mamdani’s strongholds were in Manhattan and in particular the western part of Brooklyn
That surprises me.
___________________________________
By any measure, Brooklyn is the most Jewish place in America. Approximately 600,000 Jews now call the borough home, down from an incredible 900,000 in the 1940s. One in four Brooklyn residents is Jewish, the largest proportion by far among New York City’s five boroughs, according to the most recent survey by the UJA-Federation of New York.
“There are more Jews right now in Brooklyn than anywhere else in the world, including the city of Tel Aviv,” said Ron Schweiger, the borough’s official historian, whose Flatlands home is a shrine to the long-vanished Brooklyn Dodgers (the team moved to Los Angeles in 1957).
https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2018/01/11/brooklyn-jewish-spot-earth/
___________________________________
Distressing.
How long before a majority of NYSE trades occurs in Dallas?
It’s going to be hilarious watching NY Chicago itself.
huxley:
The Jews of Brooklyn tend to be deeply religious and Orthodox Jews are something like 80% to 90% Republican. I doubt they were voting in this election at all, since they wouldn’t be registered Democrats. Over half of Brooklyn’s Jews are Orthodox.
See this; the Jewish community of NY did not vote for Mamdani for the most part.
Maybe he won because Cuomo was just a lousy candidate. Was he better than Mamdani to people with common sense? Remember this was a Democrat primary, i.e. not a lot of those people necessarily use Aristotelian logic in their choices. Since March, which was the 5 year anniversary of the covid lunacy, I have read many articles detailing what various politicians did to their “subjects” during those times. Cuomo was prominently mentioned.
I’m not saying this was the primary reason but it may have swayed a significant number of voters.
A saving grace for Adams is that wealthy people may donate considerable amounts of money to his campaign. Jamal Bowman was beaten with the help of wealthy Jewish donors who were just tired of his Antisemitism, among other things.
Mamdani has declared himself the enemy of anyone who has money. Wealthy people would be foolish NOT to donate to Adams.
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani declines to condemn phrase ‘Globalize the intifada’
That may be what, as a mayoral candidate in a city with more Jews than Tel Aviv, Madani claims “From the river to the sea” means, but in Gaza and the West Bank, “From the river to the sea” has a rather different meaning.
AWRAD: Public Opinion Poll – Gaza War 2023 – Tables of Results November 14, 2023
Which makes it rather obvious that when the Palis chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” they mean “free of Jews.”
The most benign option for implementation of “From the River to the Sea,” a.k.a. “Make Palestine Judenrein,” is “Kick the Jew settlers out of Palestine.”
Which is ironic considering that Mamdani’s father was among the Indian “settlers” that Idi Amin kicked out of Uganda.
Cuomo and Sliwa need to drop out and endorse Adams, who probably has the best chance to beat the commie.
@SHIREHOME:The poorest and lower middle class will not benefit from the “Free Stuff” because it will not materialize. Govt Grocery stores will have empty shelves.
I bet they would subcontract this to some big company, like Walmart or Whole Foods. The big corporations love to get in bed with government and have little attachment to free enterprise. I bet there’s at least one who’d be delighted to have a monopoly over 8+ million people.
Reason I’m so sure is because state and Federal governments already do this with Medicaid and Medicare; they contract out part of their population to a private insurer. For example in Washington State most of Medicaid is allocated to 5 companies, and they have to rebid every so often to keep the right to be allowed to cover Medicaid. It is hard for them to make money–since so much of what they can do is regulated and they can’t set the premiums, they have few choices but to stay in or get out-but it is a lot of revenue.
A quote from Ron DeSantis: “Mamdani. Just when I thought Palm Beach real estate values couldn’t go any higher.”
A friend of a Facebook friend posted a reply on the friend’s feed that most of her “Jewish friends” supported Mamdani but then later stated that they were mostly “Anti-Zionist.” Which tells me that they’re Jewish in Name Only… or Neturei Karta. But considering the person, her “Jewish friends” are useful idiot left wing nut jobs who just happened to have at least one nominally Jewish parent.
@Lee Also: “Anti-Zionist.” Which tells me that they’re Jewish in Name Only
I guess it depends on how closely you identify Israel with Zionism and Judaism. I think those are three separate things and so I do think there can be authentic anti-Zionist (or anti-Israel) Jews. I don’t say they’re sensible people, but I don’t see any reason to think they are not “real” Jews.
Of course there are people who do think Israel and Zionism and Judaism are all the same thing, but they are usually antisemites and would not let any Jew off the hook for being a Jew just because they were anti-Zionist.
the Jewish community of NY did not vote for Mamdani for the most part.
In fact, the heavily Jewish parts of Brooklyn voted overwhelmingly for Cuomo. From the NYT breakdown:
Midwood 72-20
East Flatbush 62-25
Borough Park 80-11
The vote totals in those areas were not large, perhaps because, as neo says, many are not Democrats, but there was a big push among religious and pro-Israel Jews to register as Democrats to vote in the primary. Cuomo even carried the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
I am Jewish. I pray facing Jerusalem. I recite Psalm 137. I pray in Hebrew. My holidays are rooted in the agricultural cycles of the Land of Israel. At the close of celebrations such as the Passover seder, I say “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
Judaism is not simply a religion. The name is rooted in the history and geography: Judea. The Bible is our history.
When it became apparent that NO country wanted us, returning to OUR land was the answer — it’s been integral to the Jewish identity for over 2500 years. Judaism and Zionism are intricately entwined. Jews who are “Anti-Zionist” have totally lost their connection to being Jewish. They are “Jewish” like most hyphenated Americans are to the other side of the hyphen: never been to the “homeland,” don’t know the mother tongue, don’t know the history, really only know stereotypical cultural crap.
Israel is a reality for seventy-seven years. It is the only Jewish state in the world. And it affords all citizens equal rights. It is OUR state. Is it a perfect modern state? Tell me of a perfect modern state. Do you hear people who are “anti-France”? (“I love the French people, but I can’t stand the country!”) It has been surrounded for decades by people, countries, leaders who have threatened — and tried — to destroy her. Which also means murdering every Jew living there. And the Israelis are aware of this. Right now, as Israel is being attacked by Iran, Israelis outside of the country are doing everything they can to get back.
To be “anti-Zionist” in this day and age is to hate Jews. To be “anti-Israel” is to hate it because it is a Jewish state. Being “anti-Israel” also about hating Jews.
Lee Also:
I agree that it’s a distinction without a difference.
In response to J.J. on June 25, 2025 at 5:02 pm
Remember, these people think the Biden is a right winger.
When Muslims return Constantinople (Istanbul) and Turkey to Christians and Jews, then we can talk.
Maybe.
–They Might Be Giants, “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” (Official Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlO39kCQ-8
@huxley:When Muslims return Constantinople (Istanbul) and Turkey to Christians and Jews, then we can talk.
Maybe.
So are we undoing everything since 1453 (Constantinople) / 1071 (Turkey) or just some things? As an American descended from immigrants I’m in an awkward position if we go too far back.
You may be surprised at who else is affected by a thorough application of the principle.
@Lee Also:To be “anti-Zionist” in this day and age is to hate Jews. To be “anti-Israel” is to hate it because it is a Jewish state. Being “anti-Israel” also about hating Jews.
Granted, but does that make Jews who are anti-Israel or anti-Zionist not Jews? I think your position is that such people are not “real” Jews. Such Jews exist though, even in Israel, and definitely outside of it.
And I think those people are nuts, at best, but they can still be Jewish, I think. I’m sure some kind of exception can be made for Jews still in Iran who may not be free to express their true opinions, but are publicly anti-Israel and anti-Zionist.
In this reddit discussion, the consensus seems to be that “anti-Zionist” Jews are really Jews, but they’re not really “anti-Zionist” because they don’t actually know what Zionism is. But those are college kids.
Niketas Choniates:
Of course. For me the whole question is absurd.
Hence, “They Might Be Giants,” a novelty song from 1953.
Nitpickers gonna pick nits.
I do mention the Constantinople and Turkey business because I was once in an online discussion with Episcopalian/Anglicans and someone quoted a bishop from Turkey about how well Christians and Muslims had been getting along.
One must forget a lot of history to say something that stupid.
@huxley:One must forget a lot of history to say something that stupid.
True, but it is charitable to remember just how much history there is to know. I certainly over the years found gaps in my knowledge of history that when I filled them in, changed my mind about things, and I assume there’s still some gaps out there that could still do that.
And of course sometimes it’s not a question of having different facts, it’s a question of different values, and those aren’t something you can resolve by more knowledge. When your values cause you deny facts or stop looking for them then that’s a problem, sure, but it befalls smart people as much stupid people.
So I just try to keep looking. I think it’s another kind of laziness just to throw up my hands and say that since no one knows everything, no one can know anything. So I do try to stake out positions based on things I know, and be open to maybe having to change them if I learn more.
Hold on!
Why is the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, who ran as a Democrat in the previous election, running as an “Independent” in this one?
Heh, I think we can chalk this up as just another of “Biden”’s glorious (vindictive LAWFARE) achievements…
“NYC Mayor Eric Adams dropping out of Democratic primary, will seek re-election as independent”—
https://nypost.com/2025/04/03/us-news/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-dropping-out-of-democratic-primary-will-seek-re-election-as-independent/
Opening grafs (from April 3, 2025):
[Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
I heard that most (?) of Mamdani’s voters were white, childless women.
…
Unrelated –mostly:
This political race unfortunately offers the shallow appeal of exotic “firsts”, as in voting for the 1st Muslim mayor. And one who is young & charismatic.
Similar to Obama, a bit.
…
SMH.
Related (from Toronto—and its ongoing experience of the destructive pathologies of “Socialist” morally-bankrupt mayors—with love…compassion…and advice):
“Dear New York Jews;
“As a citizen of Toronto, all I can say is: Welcome to the club.”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/410657
NYC has evolved into a New Yorker cartoon that mocks silly self-hating liberals.
Matt Taibbi has had some personal experience of life under socialism.
He doesn’t recommend it.
https://www.racket.news/p/socialism-wins-its-american-normandy
Sad.
“I guess it depends on how closely you identify Israel with Zionism and Judaism”
Well Israel is the world’s only Jewish state. And Zionism is the belief in Israel as a Jewish state. And around half of the Jews in the world if not more now live in Israel. But you’re smarter than I am Niketas, I’m sure you can come up with some clever argument how they are not really closely identified.
These people upset about a Jewish State, but all the Muslim States – well let’s just ignore that!
The Western Left seems intent on purging Judeo- Christianity while importing Islam .
“As a child of immigrants .. ”
In America? How unusual is that!
I expect the white degreed folks think themselves immune from the yummy results they voted for.
Related:
“How Did Mamdani Win?
“Before declaring the dawning of a new socialist era, consider just how unusual this election was.”—
https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-city-mayoral-primary-results-zohran-mamdani
Compare with:
“Israel’s 12-day Iran war may have outdone the Six Day War – analysis”—
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-858882
H/T Powerline blog (for both)
https://www.kimdutoit.com/2025/06/26/new-ideas/
Richard Aubrey:
I expect the white degreed folks think themselves immune from the yummy results they voted for.
Rob Henderson has written extensively on luxury beliefs.
Rob Henderson: Zohran Mamdani’s Luxury Beliefs
Rob Henderson: Luxury Beliefs are Status Symbols_The struggle for distinction
His memoir, Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class, is also worth a read.
@FOAF:Well Israel is the world’s only Jewish state. And Zionism is the belief in Israel as a Jewish state. And around half of the Jews in the world if not more now live in Israel.
So do you agree with Lee Also that anti-Zionist or anti-Israel Jews are not “real” Jews?
I’m sure you can come up with some clever argument how they are not really closely identified.
I’m responding to an argument made by someone else that anti-Zionist or anti-Israel Jews are not “real” Jews. And I thought that was odd because Jews can be atheists or completely unobservant and still be “real” Jews.
I’m sure some anti-Zionists who claim to be Jews are just lying. Nonetheless, there are actual Jews who are anti-Zionist or even anti-Israel. I took some time yesterday to read some discussions about such people among Jews, but it all skewed to college-age and so I didn’t learn much about them in general. But the upshot was that American progressive college-age Jews who call themselves “anti-Zionist” are usually not really, if you dig into what they think. They want the label “anti-Zionist” but they don’t actually think what a real anti-Zionist would think. And they don’t believe that real anti-Zionists believe the antisemitic and genocidal things that they commonly believe, they say that’s Zionist propaganda.
October 7 changed the minds of some of them, but not all, and I found at least one first person account of someone who is in the process of changing their mind.
Remember what New York City is intrinsically at this point. If you name a dozen factions off the top of your head, you’re not naming two dozen more factions that are equally powerful and usually at odds with each other. What I’m saying is that NYC is not governable by one man. Mamdani has a lot of things he wants to do, but for each thing, he’ll have all kinds of factions showing up at his office telling him why he can’t do it. If he persists, the factions will simply torpedo his policies or outright defy him.
Mamdani will be allowed to operate on the fringes. The factions, starting with the City Council, will allow him to have a win or two, but the way NYC operates is not going to change until the lights go out.
This is, of course, par for the course for leftists. It’s not that they want to do good; they want to feel as if they’re doing good. That’s what got Mamdani elected, white people wanting to feel good.
the wannabe Sultan is sadly not a relic he wants to reconquer much of the Ottoman territories, most recently Greece, he has effectively colonized Syria with
Al Sharaa, and in times past, they never had enclaves like he does in France Germany and soon to be Belgium
they aren’t ‘antizionist’ but thats what they expressed, they are ignorant not only of their religion, when not openly disdainful, but of most of the things that make a country cohere, as much as Mainline Christian denominations or maybe more,
there were simple rules that Wilson and Kelling taught to keep a city from falling apart but in the succeeding generation, they drank of the waters of Lethe, and not merely forgot, but did the opposite, it’s like they are trying to recreate the state of Nature, that Hobbes warned us about, a world that is nasty brutish and short, the evidence is all around us, even in a Red State like Florida, you have the likes of Max Frost, a wannabe Squaddie, in Orlando, that place is blinkered as Gotham, Desantis put in a good prosecutor in Bean, last year they put back the Harridan, who had been removed for prosecutorial malfeasance,
Regarding the debate about whether one can be simultaneously Jewish and anti-Zionist, I am reminded that there is a small number of very orthodox haredi jews, Shomer Emunim and others, who are not only anti-Zionist, but oppose the existence of the state of Israel as well. Aparently their interpretation of Scripture demands that there can be no Jewish homeland until Messiah returns to set it up. All I can say is good luck with that. Messiah has already appeared once, and the next time He shows up, hoooo boy, are they gonna be surprised.
Ah yes, the pseudo-religious ideology of socialism , Marxism , whose most fundamental tenet is “you can get something for nothing.”
Or is it, “you can get everything you want for free.”
I too grew up in New York City and soon after I finished college there, I departed, permanently in about 1977 or so.
Was the best move I ever made.
As far as the wealthy or businesses leaving NYC, they won’t .
They never do – at least in significant numbers. The very wealthy can afford sky hi taxes – so they really don’t care , as well as world class tax lawyers and accountants. The NYC wealthy elites are all hardcore leftists anyway, so they will be proud to pay up (while utilizing every tax break available). They also never take the subway – they know better and they don’t have too. .
NYC folks, as always will just bite the bullet, suck it up and tolerate more crime, more taxes, more rules and regulations, more illegal migrant shelters, filthier streets, greater numbers of dangerous, mentally ill folks wandering the streets, etc.
And just wait until NY finally achieves their 100% program of green energy. In addition to green energy’s intermittent and unreliable electricity – and its attendant brown outs- NY denizens can expect to pay much higher electric rates (see the UK, Germany, etc).
NYC , if not quite there yet, is on the way to join Philly, Detroit, Newark, Chicago, Compton, East St.Louis, etc. train into the sewer.
But hey, this is what the voters want, so they will be getting it good and hard.
if memory serves Gush Emmonim was one of the first set of communities in Samaria and Judea, I don’t use settlements because they have made that expression radioactive, even among people who should know better, how long did to take to resolve our business in the West, as long as Israel has been established if not longer,
as far as the major elders of the democratic party, like the snapdragon Carville, has been silent on the strike on fordow as well as the fedayeen mayor wannabe,
well some like Schumer have gone on full dhimmi pose,
crickets, Fetterman is a rare exception,
(i haven’t forgotten what he did to Bradford)
Newark I thought had turned a corner under Booker, but the progress there was largely exaggerated, perhaps there is some hope in the first Capital
Philadelphia, but I’m not terribly encouraged,
@JohnTyler:…this is what the voters want, so they will be getting it good and hard.
I think what they wanted is someone to use the words they want to hear, and they got that. I don’t think any meaningful change is going to happen in New York City no matter who they elect. It’s patronage and cronyism and rackets top to bottom.
They might have Walmart or somebody set up some “public option” grocery stores, and while everybody yaks about it and rubbernecks it, everything else in NYC will go on as it has.
@miguel cervantes: Fetterman is a rare exception
Yeah, Fetterman says the words you want to hear about Israel. He does whatever Schumer wants, though.
And even if Fetterman were somehow taking any meaningful action that’s good for Israel, he is bad for America. He votes the progressive line on every other issue, and he is bad for America, and it does not matter to me as an American how good he is for Israel because he is bad for America.
Fetterman on LBGQT+ issues.
Fetterman on abortion.
Fetterman on “price gouging”.
Fetterman on single-payer health care.
Fetterman on green energy and the greed of oil companies.
He’s got a couple dozen of these. On all these issues he wants what’s wrong for America.
I regard most of the Democrats, as traitorous like the Labour Party since the 70s,
the Tories well they have proven they do just enough to get their quid, the Possums over here, are nearly as useless, as they went along with Progs then, and are still barely cooperative on this cycle,
but I was looking at the big picture, the mayor cities in this land, who are like a dead weight against the economic growth and stability of even the reddest state, take Nashville in Tennessee, for example, what E Pleb Nista, We the People want is rarely in the calculus, we see how Elon was driven out of the Augean Stables for pointing out the stench, as the Leviathan of unnecessary waste rumbles on, to national bankruptcy and default
the answer to franklinw query, would probably be,’no sir, we did not keep the Republic’ all your toil and that of your compatriots were in vane,the would be Optimates, whose fix on statism was made clear in the last four years, who made the fordow strike inevitable, because of the tribute they handed the Iranian regime, and then they do everything in their power to keep this damnable machine rolling along
Yeats would say, after a moment of respite, I was right wasn’t I
“I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
Learned as a child 60 years ago. Some still don’t want to get it.
Niketas wrote “Fetterman says the words you want to hear about Israel. He does whatever Schumer wants, though.”
Perhaps Fetterman is the future of the Democrat party. He and Newsom put a dab of lipstick on the pig, as opposed to AOC, Harris etc., who revel in their swinishness.
zohran further removes all doubt showing ignorance of economics, as well as simple protocol, he doesn’t like modi ‘the butcher of gujarat,’ but he would probably welcome the Ayatollah, and would have welcomed Nasrallah pbuh
Niketas:
On the definition of Jews.
And there most definitely are ethnically Jewish anti-Semites, George Soros being one of the most famous ethnically Jewish anti-Semite – in his case, a self-admitted anti-Semite. Karl Marx was another, and his family had also converted to Protestantism when he was a child. Later Marx said he was an atheist. But he was ethnically Jewish and extremely anti-Semitic.
I’m not sure why Niketas is so obsessed with the maybe 1% of Jews who are anti-Zionist. They are just an irrelevant fringe. Of course they are still Jewish, because Judaism is not defined solely by beliefs, it’s more like a nationality. Even a Jew who converts to Christianity or Islam is still considered a Jew, but like the anti-Zionists, their views on Israel, on whether Jesus was the Messiah, or on almost anything else, are irrelevant to Judaism.
it really is striking how few voters determine these contests, and rarely this yields to a good choice, Adams, narrowly won, and was a disappointment for nearly two years, currying favor with the regime, of course the less said about Warren Wilhelm the better, as he did grievous injury to the body politic, the last professional marxist a Sandalista in his youth, equivalent to Companera Bass in Los Angeles, with the Venceremos Brigades, in Havana, then there was analogue in Commissar Chesa Boudin son of two terrorists, sorry mostly peaceful activist, same with the former ciry in the Abyss Chicago, which has earned te reputation with Brandon Jackson, the relevant Commissat
Giving all of these characters purchase in our political system, has not helped the body politic
@Jimmy:I’m not sure why Niketas is so obsessed with the maybe 1% of Jews who are anti-Zionist.
If you really wanted to know you would ask me, instead of snarking about me.
The answer is, you imagined that and attributed it to me. I’m not interested IN them for themselves, but in what other Jews think about them and why.
I am also interested in the thoughts of people who are not Jews, and on other topics.
Of course they are still Jewish, because Judaism is not defined solely by beliefs, it’s more like a nationality.
Of course, we were talking about Jewish messianism not long ago, and it seemed to make some difference which Messiah they had in mind for them to still be Jewish.
But on anti-Zionist Jews have a chat with Lee Also up thread:
This guy gets 430,000 votes in a Democrat/liberal city of 8.5 million people & I’m supposed to be impressed? The legacy media’s love affair with this guy reminds me of when Field Marshall Sandy (AOC) got 16,000 votes in her primary against the pasty Irish guy. Big deal, so what, who cares.
Jimmy:
Here’s Nick’s song?
This guy is so bad, which is to say his policy promises, that he looks like a Cloward-Piven operative.
Things would be so awful that there would have to be a revolution, so many people so desperate.
Thanks for the luxury beliefs reference. Eventually, you get to hear stuff so nuts that it must be…..a luxury belief. They can afford it. They can afford to support $20/hr. minwage for fast food workers. It’s virtuous. When the unavoidable, huge number of folks lose their jobs….no loss to them. Not where their kid works summers. And they call the guys going for automation or selling out altogether “greedy”. Another hit in the virtuous gland.