NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is draining rainy day funds and retiree health reserves while installing a self-described communist as housing chief and dismantling gifted programs—policies that have failed in San Francisco and will drive out working families who can't afford $75K private schools.
Mamdani’s budget answer: raid the rainy day fund and retiree health trust rather than cut spending. It’s San Francisco’s playbook—spending grew 17% while revenue grew 2-3%, then departments laughed at 10% cut requests. His signature policies (rent freezes, city groceries, defund-lite policing) have been disproven by decades of data.
February 19, 2026 · 5 min read
NYC kindergarten enrollment dropped 15% since 2019, with parents citing ‘lack of rigor’ as the top reason. Mamdani’s response: eliminate gifted programs starting at kindergarten. Top private schools like Avenues now charge $75,000/year—an escape hatch only wealthy families can use. Working-class kids lose their only ladder up.
Feb 10, 2026 · 4 min
Mamdani’s first major appointment set the tone: Cea Weaver, who tweeted ‘elect more communists’ and called homeownership ‘white supremacy,’ now runs NYC housing policy. The City Council rejected her for the Planning Commission in 2021 as too radical—so Mamdani bypassed confirmation entirely. Her mother owns a $1.6M Nashville home.
Jan 15, 2026 · 7 min
