CJ Daily Newsletter Featured New York Politics and law States and Cities

An Unsettling Mayoral Race

July 2, 2025

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Good morning,

Today, we’re looking at New York City’s mayoral race, the dilapidated condition of the city’s affordable housing, Utah’s successful “One Door” strategy for welfare-to-work, and Zohran Mamdani’s “vibes” campaign.

Don’t forget to write to us at editors@city-journal.org with questions or comments.

Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary may seem like a sharp break in city politics, with his promises of free buses and government-run grocery stores. But the reality was less dramatic than that, Nicole Gelinas argues in our upcoming summer issue. “New Yorkers didn’t reject a centrist—they simply weren’t offered a credible one,” she writes.

Indeed, the other mayoral candidates continuously failed to engage voters on the issues they cared about, like public safety and affordability, delivering “slightly varied versions of the same tepid progressivism,” Gelinas observes. None was skilled enough to recognize problems and offer real solutions.

Read her analysis on why the city will get (another) highly flawed leader in November.

Most low-income New Yorkers rely on multifamily rental housing. Unfortunately, those buildings have been deteriorating, subjecting residents to health and safety hazards.

Blame the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA), Eric Kober writes. It axed most of the options landlords had to raise rent-stabilized apartment rates, and with it, any incentive for private investment in rent-stabilized housing. “The subsequent withdrawal of capital from the rent-stabilized housing stock in turn leads to disinvestment and financial distress,” Kober points out.

Read his take on how the city can escape the mess.

Republicans are right to call for work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, Randy Hicks argues. But if President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law, states will soon realize that their administrative systems aren’t prepared to move recipients from welfare to work.

They should look to Utah, which follows a “One Door” strategy—in which the state integrates welfare and work programming under one authority and prioritizes getting recipients back to work. “The idea is simple: by better aligning work and welfare, states can help struggling recipients provide for themselves,” Hicks writes. “One Door brings welfare back to its original design—temporary support for those facing hard times as they transition back to work.”

How did Zohran Mamdani win New York City’s mayoral Democratic primary?

It was all vibes, Isabella Redjai argues. Mamdani’s campaign “became the hottest club in town: inclusive, stylish, and promising just enough utopia to feel radical,” she writes. “It wouldn’t cost you much (for now), just a vote.”

Read her take on how the candidate pulled off the stunning victory.