NYC mayoral primary delivers worst of all possible outcomes with Zohran Mamdani

Heaven help New York.A Democratic primary election for mayor that offered no good options managed to deliver the worst of all possible outcomes.A nepo baby who is a socialist antisemite came storming from behind to grab the inside track to City Hall.When the final tally comes in, Zohran Mamdani’s all-but-certain win will mark a comeback for the ages.A poll had him at 1% in February and no poll had him in first place.He rose by capturing the imagination and expressing the grievances of young people who feel they are being priced out of New York.

He was up against a large, lackluster field and delivered a strong social media presence where he often seemed to be having fun.He said from the beginning his campaign was about affordability, and he’s right but not in the way he intended.It’s a fact that the city can’t ­afford his ideas.If implemented, they would break the bank.Yet such concerns are beneath his vision for Cuba on the Hudson.Similarly, his refusal to acknowledge that Israel is the rightful homeland of Jews is a key plank in what can fairly be deemed a hostile view of the lone Jewish state.He supports the BDS movement and refuses to condemn the “globalize the intifada” movement, which is about targeting Jews around the world.On the way to his stunning victory, Mamdani has put a dagger in the political career of Andrew Cuomo, whose results so far have dramatically underperformed expectations and poll predictions.The former governor offered himself as a pragmatic progressive, but it was his history and personality that sank him more than his policies.Cuomo ducked most candidate forums and his public appearances were often described as perfunctory.Give a speech, shake a few hands, get back in the car.His failure to connect was self-inflicted.

The fact that he never expressed any sense of regret for the nursing home deaths during COVID and the sexual harassment allegations from a dozen women added to the sense that he was not fully committed to winn...