Last week, Zohran Mamdani shattered the notion that a New York City mayor has to be some craggy-faced, man-shaped stack of disappointments who’d sooner die than be seen on the subway. The young, energetic Democratic Socialist ran on a platform of making New York City a more livable place for average residents, which—surprise!—went over well with average residents. Listening to constituents and trying to improve their lives doesn’t seem like a controversial stance, so why is it that the Democratic establishment seems almost as afraid of Mamdani as the Republicans? This week, Adam sits with Defector journalist and longtime NYC resident David Roth to talk about what it might mean for NYC to have a mayor who actually understands what NYC is, and what that might mean for the future of the left.
Is Zohran the new left?
In the US people haven’t seen what ‘left’ even means for at least 60 years. So in that sense he’s new. Compared to the rest of the world, Zohran is just ‘left’. In many places even ‘centre-left’. Nowhere is he extreme left. Except in the US.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
