Let’s examine the facts here, because they are genuinely alarming for anyone who cares about economic prosperity and public safety.
Representative Mike Lawler of New York’s 17th Congressional District has issued a stark warning about the potential consequences of electing socialist Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani to lead New York City. The assessment is not hyperbolic. When you analyze Mamdani’s actual policy proposals, the conclusion becomes inescapable: this is not garden-variety progressivism. This is Marxism.
Consider the specifics. Mamdani has openly advocated for “seizing the means of production,” banning private property, and abolishing billionaires entirely. These are not policy positions designed to reform capitalism. They are positions designed to dismantle it. When a candidate for mayor of the financial capital of the world proposes eliminating the very foundation of market economics, rational people should pay attention.
The economic ramifications would be immediate and severe. Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes by approximately $9 billion would accelerate an already troubling trend of businesses fleeing New York for more hospitable environments. This is basic economics. When you increase the cost of doing business in a particular location, businesses relocate to places where the cost structure makes sense. The result would be a hollowing out of New York’s tax base, leading to precisely the opposite outcome Mamdani presumably desires.
Then there is the public safety dimension, which may be even more concerning. Mamdani has pledged to defund the police and eliminate the NYPD’s gang database. This is not a theoretical discussion. New York City has historically been a primary target for terrorism. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the September 11 attacks are not distant memories. They are reminders of why vigilance and cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement remain essential.
Lawler correctly notes that weakening the NYPD through defunding, reducing its size, or halting recruitment would directly compromise the city’s security infrastructure. This is not fear-mongering. It is logical cause and effect.
Mamdani’s associations raise additional red flags. His connection to Imam Siraj Wahhaj, named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, demands scrutiny. His recent fundraising efforts for UNRWA, the United Nations agency that Congress defunded after revelations that its employees participated in the October 7 terrorist attack against Israel, suggest a troubling pattern of judgment.
The race has tightened as voters have begun examining these positions more carefully. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa have closed the gap as concerns about Mamdani’s radical platform have intensified.
The broader point here is straightforward. Elections have consequences. When you elect someone who advocates for Marxist economic policies and weakening law enforcement in a city that remains a prime terrorism target, you get predictable results: economic decline, security vulnerabilities, and population flight.
Lawler’s warning about a “mass exodus” is not speculation. It is pattern recognition based on historical precedent. When cities adopt policies that make them economically uncompetitive and physically unsafe, people and businesses leave. This harms not only New York but the entire nation, given the city’s outsized role in the American economy.
The question for New York voters is simple: Do you want a city that attracts investment and maintains security, or do you want to conduct a real-time experiment in Marxist governance? The answer should be obvious to anyone capable of basic reasoning.
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