Baloncici / Depositphotos.com
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – It’s in the bag. Zohran Mamdani is going to be the next mayor of New York.
I’m amazed at how many people haven’t thought through the consequences of his ideas, which simply won’t work.
He proposes free city-run daycare centers. Imagine how long the waiting lists will be. The working mother who needs a paycheck to make ends meet will be told that a slot for her newborn child will open in a year or two.
He proposes free subway and bus rides in New York. About 20-percent of the costs of public transit come from the farebox. Imagine the maintenance that won’t be done and the subway drivers and conductors who won’t be hired. So, fewer trains and more riders.
He proposes city-funded grocery stores. So Whole Foods and D’agostinos will close their stores after being under-cut on price. And the city run grocery stores, which will be supplied mostly by no-name brands, will have empty shelves. Name brands have reliable distribution. Acme brands’ trucks show up every once in a while.
He proposes more rent control. So more apartment buildings won’t be maintained because landlords can’t afford to fix the elevators or paint the halls. Privately owned buildings will begin to look more like public housing – drug and rat-infested buildings that are hellholes to live in.
He proposes higher property tax rates for wealthy, whiter neighborhoods. Those wealthy residents can more into marginal neighborhoods, fix up dilapidated properties, and the gentrification that follows will price the less affluent out of those areas. If the property taxes are too much to bare, the wealthy can move wherever they wish, from Long Island to Florida.
Socialism doesn’t work. More extreme socialism will only bring more extreme failure.
New Yorkers are about to elect a mayor whose ideas haven’t worked anywhere. A large dose of reality is about to hit the country’s largest city.
Chris Conley
Comments