Mamdani Misses the Mark

During Wednesday night’s mayoral debate in New York, Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani faced relentless attacks from Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa and refused to answer tough questions.

In one such non-answer, when the candidates were asked if they supported the pro-housing proposals that voters will decide on next month, Mamdani said he was “appreciative that those measures will be on the ballot” but refused to give a “yes” or “no.” When asked again, he said that he hadn’t taken a position yet.

“Mamdani’s refusal is extraordinary,” John Ketcham writes. “He is apparently not prepared enough to vote on every measure on the ballot, much less win its biggest contest.”

Not only does his noncommitment to the housing proposals cast doubt on how serious he is about building more housing; it also raises questions about what else he doesn’t know. “His refusal to provide details on matters ranging from ending mayoral control of public schools to his Department of Community Safety plan won’t inspire confidence in undecided voters,” Ketcham writes.

Since the gig economy’s inception in New York City, delivery drivers and employers have operated under an at-will employment arrangement, which allows either party to terminate the relationship at any time and for any reason.

Now, the city council is considering ending that arrangement and instead requiring app operators to establish “just cause” before deactivating a driver’s account. They would have to prove that there were economic reasons for doing so, which can be done only by offering up business records.

This move would ultimately lead to higher food prices, C. Jarrett Dieterle maintains, and would threaten the future of gig work in New York. “The more policymakers treat gig workers like traditional employees—through reclassification, minimum-wage mandates, and curbs on at-will employment—the less flexibility drivers have,” he writes. “But flexibility is the Number One benefit drivers look for in choosing gig work.”

Read his take.

In 2010, 75 percent of Americans said higher education was “very important.” Today? Just 35 percent believe so.

The figure isn’t totally surprising, given universities’ drift away from their mission of nurturing educated students, choosing instead to foster activism and ideological purity.

Thankfully, free-market competition exists to help with challenges like these, Michael Torres points out. We saw it in the decades between the Civil War and the Great Depression, when entrepreneurs and merit-centered standards helped create the most dynamic higher education marketplace in the world.

Today, new entrepreneurs, new college rankings systems (like City Journal’s), and new institutions are helping to recapture this focus. Indeed, as Torres writes, “if American history is any prelude to the future, dynamism will win out against a stifling incumbency.”

What did the final New York City mayoral debate reveal about the future of the race—and the city itself? Nicole Gelinas, John Ketcham, and Rafael Mangual break down the candidates’ best and worst moments, and what their performances signal for voters. They also dig into the biggest issues shaping public sentiment—from the crisis at Rikers Island and challenges in education policy to the fallout from recent ICE raids on Canal Street.

“It is terrific to know that a fine education can still be had if one is willing to look beyond what used to be blue-chip institutions. They’ll need to beef up their admissions departments.”

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