Did you ever imagine the day when the skyline of the Big Apple, once the unassailable symbol of American ambition and grit, would flicker like a bulb about to burn out? On November 4, 2025, New Yorkers handed the keys to City Hall to Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist — labelled by critics as a radical with communist leanings — who vaulted from state assembly obscurity to mayor-elect in a historic upset. He beat back former Governor Andrew Cuomo's comeback bid and Republican Curtis Sliwa in a race that saw turnout surge to levels not witnessed since 1969. For progressives, it's a triumph: the city's first Muslim and South Asian mayor, a fresh face promising to thaw the frozen dreams of working-class New Yorkers. But for anyone who's watched this metropolis teeter under layers of dysfunction — skyrocketing homelessness, a migrant influx straining every seam, violent crime stalking its streets — this feels less like dawn and more like the final curtain. New York isn't just stumbling; it's hurtling toward a precipice, and Mamdani's victory may be the push that sends it over.
The Powder Keg: A City Already on Its Knees
Let's not sugarcoat it: New York in 2025 is a tinderbox. Homelessness has exploded, with over 120,000 souls in shelters — a more than doubling since Mayor Eric Adams took office in 2022. That's before you factor in the "hidden homeless," tens of thousands crammed into overcrowded apartments, sleeping on floors and air mattresses because rents have become a cruel joke. The right-to-shelter mandate, a noble 1981 relic, is now a millstone, forcing the city to improvise with hotels, tents, and even school gyms turned into makeshift dorms.
Then there's the migrant crisis, a deluge that has dumped over 210,000 arrivals since 2022, mostly from Venezuela's collapse but swelling from Haiti and beyond. Bused in by Southern governors as political theatre, they've overwhelmed services, with 60,000 still in city care as of late 2024—taxpayers footing a bill that's already topped billions. Critics decry it as a strain on everything from schools to subways, breeding resentment and "crimes of survival" like unlicensed vending that could trigger ICE raids under a Trump administration eyeing mass deportations. And crime? It's a spectre that haunts every borough. While official stats may quibble, perceptions are damning: 41% of residents believe migrants have spiked the crime rate, and women in particular report feeling the city's pulse as a threat. From subway slashings to smash-and-grabs, the sense of siege is palpable — socialism's "compassionate" policies haven't tamed the chaos; they've amplified it.
Mamdani inherits this mess not as a fixer, but as an ideologue whose campaign was a love letter to the "Free Stuff Army." Free buses? Check — $600-800 million a year to erase fares and (supposedly) speed up routes. Universal childcare? Another multi-billion-dollar pledge. Rent freezes for 2 million tenants, 200,000 affordable housing units, city-owned grocery stores, a $30 minimum wage by 2030 — it's a wishlist that sounds utopian until you tally the tab. Funded how? By jacking corporate taxes to 11.5% (matching New Jersey's) and slapping a 2% surcharge on millionaires. Suicidal in practice for a city whose budget is already a $5 billion black hole for 2026, exacerbated by federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP under a hostile White House. Albany, not City Hall, holds the purse strings on taxes and borrowing, and Governor Kathy Hochul — a moderate Democrat — has already signalled she'll prioritise "sustaining existing ones" over Mamdani's expansions. Trump, meanwhile, is openly musing about slashing federal aid to the "communist" haven. Welcome to budget Armageddon.
The Exodus: A Million Ghosts in the MachineIf the internal rot wasn't enough, Mamdani's win has ignited a fire sale on escape routes. Real estate agents from Westchester to the Sun Belt report phones melting down with desperate queries — affluent suburbs, Florida condos, Texas ranches, the Carolinas' gated enclaves. A JL Partners survey for the Daily Mail lays it bare: nearly 1 million New Yorkers — 9% of the population, equivalent to emptying Seattle into the Hudson — are "definitely" packing bags, with another 20-25% on the fence. White voters (13%), Asians (11%), Staten Islanders (21%), and high-earners over $250K (7%) lead the charge, spooked by tax hikes and an "extreme anti-business" vibe. Pollster James Johnson warns the economic quake could be "seismic," gutting the tax base that funds those very promises.
This isn't hyperbole; it's history rhyming. New York has bled residents for years — post-COVID flight to remote work havens accelerated it — but Mamdani's radicalism could turn a trickle into a torrent. Developers like Eric Benaim, the "King of Queens," fielded dozens of calls by breakfast on November 5, with Miami dubbing itself the "sixth borough." Florida's Ron DeSantis is even polling his constituents on how to handle the influx; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott floated a 100% "flee tax." As one broker put it, "People are fleeing the city." Lose the wealth creators, and what's left? A hollowed-out husk, where "freeze the rent" chants echo in emptying high-rises.
Zoom out, and New York's doom spiral isn't isolated, it's a petri dish for America's leftward lurch. Democrats swept nationwide on November 4, from Virginia's gubernatorial upset to California's redistricting wins, leaving Trump grumbling about "Democrat areas" and lessons learned. Mamdani's nod to socialist icon Eugene V. Debs in his victory speech — "the dawn of a better day for humanity" — drew roars from the faithful, but it chilled the spines of moderates. Even "conservative" pundits now share DNA with his agenda: open borders lite, endless entitlements, an allergy to fiscal restraint. AOC eyes 2028 with renewed fire; imagine her scaling this model nationally.
The irony? New York was socialist long before Mamdani — de Blasio's era baked in the taxes and tent cities. But dialling to 11 with "free everything" ignores reality: services aren't conjured; they're paid for by the strivers who built the place. As the tax base evaporates and deficits balloon, those expecting utopia will face bitter cuts. The clowns aren't just running the asylum — they're burning it down.
The Big Apple doesn't have to rot entirely. But with this trajectory, it's hard to see anything but doom. This is a lesson on how the social toxins of Leftism and socialism, bring societies down quickly.
https://michaeltsnyder.substack.com/p/it-is-time-to-get-out-of-new-york