Folks forget that the mayor isn’t a dictatorship. Take the “free buses” promise. New York City doesn’t even control the busses… the MTA does which is a state agency. The mayor literally has nothing to do with it.
There was a lot of doom and gloom around his potential election, but reality is likely more that it’s quickly demonstrated that the things promised can’t be delivered and then everyone sighs and moves on.
gaze•3mo ago
doom and gloom over the promise of free busses is a wild level of cynicism
abnercoimbre•3mo ago
Even my loved ones express skepticism, but upon deeper probing it's because they don't want to be let down.
burningChrome•3mo ago
Mamdani took a lot of heat for proposing something that isn't that feasible.
From the article someone linked to below:
Speaking on Oct. 30, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber didn't seem amenable to the idea of making buses free for all riders.
"I want to make sure that people of limited income get priority in this discussion, that we're not just giving a ton of money to people who are riding the 104 on the Upper West Side, where I grew up, the bus on Broadway," Lieber said.
So the guy who might hold sway, hasn't been convinced yet its something he would be immediately on board with. The MTA is also still struggling financially, so losing even more revenue by giving away free bus trips isn't something the MTA will be cool with.
And then of course what nobody wants to talk about is how they would offset the losses in fair revenues? Why increases taxes of course:
Mamdani told CBS New New York back in September that he would pay for free buses, along with his other democratic socialist policies, in part, by increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% -- the same as New Jersey -- and instituting a flat 2% tax rate for individuals earning $1 million or more.
"My vision for making the most expensive city in the United States of America affordable is actually one that benefits all of us," he said.
gaze•3mo ago
What's your objection to the tax increase. I think people are talking about it plenty and it seems generally non-objectionable.
JCM9•3mo ago
The other problem with free busses is that in NYC people of all income brackets use public transit. That’s rare amongst cities. New Yorkers know that the subway is way faster than a chauffeured SUV for most trips and so you’ll see millionaires riding alongside those of far less means. Folks of all means also use the busses.
The MTA needs money and so making busses free for everyone is silly when many riders can certainly afford to pay. Various means tested approaches are in place and are the sort of thing that generally gets broader support.
The whole “tax the rich” line makes for good stump speeches but doesn’t work in practice. The rich have good accountants that let people avoid most of these ideas.
My brother in christ, this took less than ten seconds to Google ("Zohran Mamdani free bus plan").
chucksta•3mo ago
Which says the same thing OP says
>Are free buses in NYC feasible?
Political expert J.C. Polanco, a professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, recently told CBS News New York the biggest hurdle Mamdani would face in making free buses a reality is the MTA, because it controls the cost of bus fares.
"[Mamdani] would need the support of those members of the MTA, which means you need the support of the state and those officials that appoint those individuals to the MTA," Polanco said.
He added that, because congestion pricing is the law of the land and the transit agency has a massive deficit, he believes the odds of New Yorkers getting to enjoy free buses are "slim to none."
>As mayor, he would need the help of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to raise taxes.
toomuchtodo•3mo ago
That is a plan, and an explanation of how it will be paid for. We can argue over whether it gets done, but New Mexico just passed universal childcare [1], and Colorado just passed legislation to raise taxes on high earners for universal school lunches [2]. I am so tired of hearing what cannot be done politically on a startup/VC forum where almost everyone's startup or business attempt fails except a select few, and yet everyone still maintains a shared delusion of broad success out of survivorship bias and that "this is the way.". Like, what is broken in the mental model? "It always seems impossible, until it's done."
The “free bus” thing was sort of a classic political move of promising people free stuff and hoping nobody bothers to check if you’d even be in charge of the thing in question. In this case yes the mayor doesn’t control the busses, or any of NYC Transit for that matter.
easterncalculus•3mo ago
Yeah, sure, the Mayor of the city where the MTA actually operates just has zero leverage over them. Might as well vote for a sex criminal who won't do anything instead.
These are the comments that remind me of the core user base of out of touch SF people.
burnte•3mo ago
> These are the comments that remind me of the core user base of out of touch SF people.
The concept of soft power, where you have power through friendship, influence, and relationships is a surprisingly difficult concept for a lot of folks. It's a nuanced concept and it takes nuance to pull off, but when done right it's far more effective than hard power. Hard power is people do it because you tell them, soft power is they do it because you get them to want to do it. Informal arrangements make some people uncomfortable.
koakuma-chan•3mo ago
What's this drama all about? Are free buses bad?
zzgo•3mo ago
Concern trolls will ask who's going to pay for the free buses, and wonder if they'll be overrun by the homeless or other vilified residents of New York.
koakuma-chan•3mo ago
Yeah it's not like homeless people pay for the bus, whether there it's free or not.
IncreasePosts•3mo ago
Is it possible for Mamdani to use soft power, when most of the leadership of the Democratic party didn't want him? I guess he has the governor's endorsement, and allyship with AOC, but a lot of the Democratic machine is not happy that their candidate won.
burnte•3mo ago
> Is it possible for Mamdani to use soft power, when most of the leadership of the Democratic party didn't want him?
100%, because he's mayor. He has real power, and you use that to create soft power. Nothing else matters now, he's mayor. They have to deal with him, and by trying to make that easy and being gracious with the people who were against him, he can gain a LOT of soft power.
prasadjoglekar•3mo ago
The MTA operates in more than just NYC, and the governor controls it.
They raised ticket prices a few weeks ago, fwiw. He has a bully pulpit, but that's about it.
827a•3mo ago
People also seem to have forgotten that the Presidency isn't a dictatorship. If everyone is forgetting this; how is it different than it just being a dictatorship?
panic•3mo ago
He’s also built a popular movement invested in getting his policies implemented. He may not “control the busses” as an individual government official, but his movement can pressure the people who do.
I have had the pleasure of working with her previously and she is the hardest working person I’ve ever met by far. Great pick, very exciting to see!
xtiansimon•3mo ago
Gives me the idea the federal government’s purge of talented and principled individuals might just be picked up in the largest progressive cities which have the greatest need. Woah. I need more coffee. I’m still dreaming this morning.
cmiles8•3mo ago
There was a lot of doom and gloom around his potential election, but reality is likely more that it’s quickly demonstrated that the things promised can’t be delivered and then everyone sighs and moves on.
gaze•3mo ago
abnercoimbre•3mo ago
burningChrome•3mo ago
From the article someone linked to below:
Speaking on Oct. 30, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber didn't seem amenable to the idea of making buses free for all riders.
"I want to make sure that people of limited income get priority in this discussion, that we're not just giving a ton of money to people who are riding the 104 on the Upper West Side, where I grew up, the bus on Broadway," Lieber said.
So the guy who might hold sway, hasn't been convinced yet its something he would be immediately on board with. The MTA is also still struggling financially, so losing even more revenue by giving away free bus trips isn't something the MTA will be cool with.
And then of course what nobody wants to talk about is how they would offset the losses in fair revenues? Why increases taxes of course:
Mamdani told CBS New New York back in September that he would pay for free buses, along with his other democratic socialist policies, in part, by increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% -- the same as New Jersey -- and instituting a flat 2% tax rate for individuals earning $1 million or more.
"My vision for making the most expensive city in the United States of America affordable is actually one that benefits all of us," he said.
gaze•3mo ago
JCM9•3mo ago
The MTA needs money and so making busses free for everyone is silly when many riders can certainly afford to pay. Various means tested approaches are in place and are the sort of thing that generally gets broader support.
The whole “tax the rich” line makes for good stump speeches but doesn’t work in practice. The rich have good accountants that let people avoid most of these ideas.
toomuchtodo•3mo ago
My brother in christ, this took less than ten seconds to Google ("Zohran Mamdani free bus plan").
chucksta•3mo ago
>Are free buses in NYC feasible?
Political expert J.C. Polanco, a professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx, recently told CBS News New York the biggest hurdle Mamdani would face in making free buses a reality is the MTA, because it controls the cost of bus fares.
"[Mamdani] would need the support of those members of the MTA, which means you need the support of the state and those officials that appoint those individuals to the MTA," Polanco said.
He added that, because congestion pricing is the law of the land and the transit agency has a massive deficit, he believes the odds of New Yorkers getting to enjoy free buses are "slim to none."
>As mayor, he would need the help of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to raise taxes.
toomuchtodo•3mo ago
[1] New Mexico is first state in US to offer universal child care - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45182372 - September 2025
[2] Colorado Proposition LL passes: $12.4M will fund school meals - https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/colorado-proposition-l... - November 5th, 2025
JCM9•3mo ago
easterncalculus•3mo ago
These are the comments that remind me of the core user base of out of touch SF people.
burnte•3mo ago
The concept of soft power, where you have power through friendship, influence, and relationships is a surprisingly difficult concept for a lot of folks. It's a nuanced concept and it takes nuance to pull off, but when done right it's far more effective than hard power. Hard power is people do it because you tell them, soft power is they do it because you get them to want to do it. Informal arrangements make some people uncomfortable.
koakuma-chan•3mo ago
zzgo•3mo ago
koakuma-chan•3mo ago
IncreasePosts•3mo ago
burnte•3mo ago
100%, because he's mayor. He has real power, and you use that to create soft power. Nothing else matters now, he's mayor. They have to deal with him, and by trying to make that easy and being gracious with the people who were against him, he can gain a LOT of soft power.
prasadjoglekar•3mo ago
They raised ticket prices a few weeks ago, fwiw. He has a bully pulpit, but that's about it.
827a•3mo ago
panic•3mo ago