Mayor Mamdani: Can You Feel The Excitement?

In New York, officials elected in November take office on January 1. And thus, on New Year’s Day 2026, we had the inauguration of our new Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Can you feel the excitement?

For myself, not so much. The best I can say is that this too shall pass. Hopefully without too much destruction in the meantime, but we have no assurance of that.

And yet it seems that plenty of people really do feel excitement. I’m not making this up. For example, here is the big piece on the inauguration from the New York Times. Excerpt:

The message from the stage was unmistakable: In New York City, the left is ascendant. And to national Democratic leaders struggling to regain the party’s footing, Mr. Mamdani’s victory and the excitement surrounding it may suggest a path forward.

None other than Senator Bernie Sanders showed up to administer the oath of office (on a Quran!). Sanders got to utter a few remarks. He said that Mamdani embodied “hope” and “vision.” From the Times:

“New York, thank you for inspiring our nation,” Mr. Sanders said. “Thank you for giving us, from coast to coast, the hope and the vision that we can create government that works for all, not just the wealthy and the few.”

CNN was able to capture the excitement of a gaggle of attendees at the event. For example, there was Jen Shoemaker, who moved to New York from New Orleans 14 years ago, and recently served as a Mamdani campaign volunteer:

“Everybody’s so energetic. We’re so ready for Zohran,” said Shoemaker, who arrived more than two hours before the inauguration began. “We need Democrats with backbones and Zohran has one.”

Here is a picture of Ms. Shoemaker from CNN:

And from lifelong New Yorker Fernando Restrepo:

[Restrepo] said he’d never attended a mayoral inauguration in the city before but was inspired to come out because of the message of hope and unity he felt Mamdani’s election represented.

Teen Vogue was also on the scene, collecting some choice quotes. Here’s one from someone identified only as “Rawlins”:

“I am excited for him to make New York more affordable and make New York for the people again instead of just the fricking rich people.”

Over at NPR, they get a quote from an attendee named Enid David:

“I believe in what Zohran is going to do. I believe in his mission. I believe in his plan, and I think he can make it happen.”

You get the picture.

What the future in fact holds for New York is a continuation, and likely acceleration, of its ongoing decline relative to the rest of the country. When I moved to New York in 1975, the population of the state was 18.1 million, while Florida’s population was 8.4 million. Today, New York State’s population is about 20 million, while Florida’s is nearing 24 million. Over the same period, New York City’s population, like the State’s, has inched up, from about 7.5 million to about 8.5 million.

New York, City and State, represent a tremendous missed opportunity. We created the world’s greatest economy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and ever since we have gradually undermined it by over-taxation and over-regulation. People genuinely want to live here, but many of the most productive are driven away by overtly hostile government.

As I have previously pointed out, there is a limit to what Mamdani can do as Mayor of New York City to accelerate the destruction. However, he gives every indication that he will try his best to do the maximum damage possible. From his inaugural address:

“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”

How about fear of being deemed a moron?