I was on New York’s rent board. Zohran Mamdani’s ideas aren’t pie in the sky | Leah Goodridge
Guardian5 days
Report: Mamdani Called for Abolition of Private Property
Above: Zohran Mamdani attends an endorsement event from the union DC 37 on July 15, 2025, in New York City. Image copyright: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The Spin
Left narrative
When Mamdani speaks of dignity and universal rights, his critics hear communism — not because he threatens democracy, but because he threatens entrenched power. To twist "city-owned grocery stores" into a war on private property is cynical nonsense. Mamdani isn't abolishing anything but despair. He's offering struggling New Yorkers something far more radical: a fairer future, not fear.
Right narrative
When a mayoral frontrunner muses about abolishing private property — even purportedly — New Yorkers should be alarmed. Mamdani's rhetoric may sound compassionate, but it flirts with dangerous overreach. A city cannot function solely on ideology. If ownership becomes suspect, ambition dies with it. Progress should lift people, not bulldoze the foundations of personal freedom and enterprise.