This video from New York mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo appeared pathetic at first watch. The disgraced former governor is proposing “Zohran’s law,” which he claims would “keep the rich out of New York’s affordable housing.”
He named it after Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who gained the Democratic mayoral main. Sore-loser Cuomo is now operating within the normal election as an unbiased.
It’s absurd for Cuomo—scion of a rich, politically related household—to posture as a champion of the working class provided that as governor practically each main coverage transfer he made benefited the wealthiest New Yorkers. That included supporting a breakaway group of “Democrats” who caucused with Republicans to dam progressive laws.
Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks throughout a rally on the Resort & GamingTrades Council headquarters in New York on July 2.
Cuomo is now calling Mamdani “wealthy.” Whereas Mamdani acknowledges a privileged upbringing, his politics heart on making life reasonably priced and dismantling billionaire dominance. His pre-political work targeted on retaining folks from dropping their houses. Cuomo’s personal non-political résumé? Banking and dealing at an actual property agency with over $5 billion in belongings.
So how was this truly wealthy a-hole justifying calling Mandami “rich”?
“In a post on X that drew more than 26 million views, Mr. Cuomo wrote that ‘a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter’ because Mr. Mamdani, a state assemblyman, was ‘occupying her rent-controlled apartment,’” reported The New York Occasions. “Mr. Cuomo accused Mr. Mamdani of being ‘rich,’ pointing out that assembly members make more than $140,000, and called on him to “move out.”
In a lot of the nation, $140,000 is comfy, not wealthy. However in New York Metropolis? The common family revenue is $127,894, and a 2023 SmartAssets examine discovered that $100,000 in NYC buys the equal of $35,791 within the common U.S. metropolis. To match the nationwide $100K lifestyle, a New Yorker would wish $312,000, but Cuomo is operating on the concept that folks incomes far lower than which can be “rich” and will pay extra.
New Yorkers know this, after all. And I can’t think about they’d take too kindly to being accused of being “rich” on what is basically a $30-40,000 wage in most of America.
And people rent-stabilized residences? They’re not welfare housing and don’t have any revenue {qualifications}—they merely cap annual lease hikes. Mamdani isn’t blocking a homeless mom from transferring in; she couldn’t afford it. His unit prices $2,300 a month. Given that just about half of NYC residences are lease stabilized, Cuomo is successfully operating on a plan to hike rents for a big share of individuals making the town’s common revenue. Even for those who thought it was good coverage, it’s political malpractice.
Which makes Cuomo’s pitch much more baffling: as a substitute of promising to decrease prices—like President Donald Trump falsely did together with his “lower prices on Day One” pledge, or Mamdani did together with his lease freezes, free buses, and cheaper groceries—Cuomo is telling an enormous swath of voters they’re wealthy after they’re not, after which vowing to boost their lease.
The primary individual to cheer Cuomo’s publish was right-wing, Trump-loving conservative Patrick Wager-David—half proprietor of the New York Yankees and value an estimated $500 million.
That’s wealthy.
You don’t see the wealthiest elite like this man retweeting Mamdani. Cuomo, after all, responded warmly.
