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Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Ex-NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says there's ‘a lot of exaggeration' over Mamdani fears
Print Close By Bradford Betz Published June 26, 2025 Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told 'Fox News @ Night' Wednesday he believes fears over Zohran Mamdani's win in the Democratic primary are greatly exaggerated. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, claimed victory in New York City's Democratic mayor primary Tuesday after former New York governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the race. While the race's outcome will still need to be decided by a ranked count on July 1, Mamdani's far-left policy proposals have caused angst among more moderate Democrats. CITY-RUN GROCERY STORES, DEFUNDING POLICE, SAFE INJECTION SITES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NYC'S NEXT POTENTIAL MAYOR De Blasio downplayed these fears, arguing that many of Mamdani's proposals – such as creating free bus networks, expanding grocery stores and implementing rent control – have been tried in other cities. "These are not staggering ideas. If he wants to tax the wealthy, he has to get the approval of the legislature. They may or may not give it," de Blasio said, arguing that the "wealthy" are poised to get generous tax cuts from President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which passed in the House last month. DEM SOCIALIST'S NYC PRIMARY UPSET SIGNALS 'GENERATIONAL' SHIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, STRATEGISTS SAY "I just think there's a lot of exaggeration here. And we're not going to see people leaving in droves," de Blasio said. "They said it would happen when I became mayor. It didn't happen. I just don't buy it." De Blasio, who served as New York City Mayor between 2014 and 2022, argued that Mamdani's success was due to his focus on "kitchen table issues" – something Democrats paid the price for forgetting in the 2024 election cycle. "Here's someone who actually talked all day long about affordability, talked about rent. He talked about the basics of life, food, the whole thing that people are struggling to make ends meet," de Blasio said. The former mayor predicted that police would not be defunded under a prospective Mamdani administration. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "I think in the end, he's going to laser focus on the kinds of things that everyday New Yorkers want across the ideological spectrum here, across demographics, because this place is incredibly expensive, and working-class and middle class people are struggling to live here," de Blasio said. Print Close URL
New York Post
7 days ago
- Business
- New York Post
NYC's rent board must ignore the politics, obey its own math — and OK a hike
When the city's Rent Guidelines Board votes Monday on adjustments for one- and two-year leases of rent-stabilized apartments, it must tune out the politics — and increase rents at the highest end of the preliminary range they set last month. The math, and the health of New York City's housing stock, demands it. The RGB's own research data and reports show that a minimum rent increase of 6.3% is necessary for small-property owners to meet their increased operating costs and expenses. Advertisement But the board ignored its own math last month when it set a preliminary adjustment range of 1.75% to 4.75% for a one-year lease. They have a chance to make it right — by voting for the higher number. Independent housing policy experts at the Citizens Budget Commission and NYU Furman Center warn that decades of rent adjustments failing to keep pace with inflation and rising costs have taken a heavy toll, and the pattern is no longer sustainable. Advertisement Too many buildings, they say, are in economic distress. Just look at the staggering number of mom-and-pop, family-owned buildings in last month's Department of Finance lien sale. Those buildings are now in danger of foreclosure, abandonment or takeover by corporate landlords and predatory profiteers. It's simple math. Advertisement When property taxes, water and sewer rates, insurance, utilities, labor, construction materials and every other cost needed to maintain and operate rent-stabilized housing go up, rents should increase commensurately. But with a cap on rent increases, and no ceiling on taxes and expenses, small rent-stabilized building owners are pushed off the cliff — leaving less affordable housing for NYC families. Our lawmakers have worsened the problem. Albany saddled small rent-stabilized buildings with the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which effectively made upgrades unaffordable by severely limiting rent increases to recoup costs. Advertisement The City Council continually adds burdensome and costly government mandates — most recently the broker-fee law that will likely force many owners to keep apartments empty. The backlog in eviction proceedings in Housing Court allows deadbeats to skip without making good on arrears after living rent-free for months, sometimes years. No cavalry is on the horizon for economically distressed small rent-stabilized building owners — the largest providers of affordable housing to millions of New Yorkers in low-income, brown, black and immigrant neighborhoods. Their only hope — the only hope, really, for the families we house and for the very preservation of affordable housing — is the RGB, which must deliberate amid an irrational rent-freeze chorus from shouting activists. Message to the Democrats' mayoral candidate: Freezing rents without freezing property taxes and operating costs doesn't work. Bill de Blasio's eight years of rent mismanagement have caught up with us. In its vote on Monday, the RGB must send a clear message to all candidates and politicians: That it's an independent board not swayed by political pressure. Housing policies that punish small building owners — who are mostly people of color and generational owners of immigrant backgrounds — also punish the families they house, shaking the foundation of the city's affordable housing landscape. Anti-owner policies are anti-tenant policies. Advertisement We don't expect the city to freeze property taxes, water bills and other government-driven costs. And if Zohran Mamdani becomes our next mayor, his platform points to an anti-small-property-owner scenario worse than the one de Blasio created. That leaves the RGB as the first, last and only champion for small rent-stabilized building owners. Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Advertisement Will this panel be able to shut out the background noise and abide by its own math, so that small-building owners can provide safe, affordable housing to the New Yorkers counting on them every day? And what if this RGB panel blazed its own trail and did some thinking outside the box? For example, the board could try to rescue the most deeply distressed buildings by considering separate, higher rent adjustments for apartment leases in such situations. Advertisement It would be a sensible first step in keeping small owners off the city's next lien sale — and walking the affordable housing crisis off the ledge. Does the RGB have the courage to proceed where other panels in the past have failed? Ann Korchak is board president of the Small Property Owners of New York, where Jan Lee is a board member.
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
What the Democratic establishment should learn from Mamdani's win
New York City is a political ecosystem all its own, one that doesn't translate — or set the direction — for the rest of the country. Consider how many of its modern mayors have been misled by the prominence — and the hype — that comes with their posts atop the nation's most self-important city. John Lindsay, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio ranged across the political spectrum but had one thing in common: Once they got west of the Hudson River, their presidential aspirations turned to dust.
Eater
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Standard Hotel Is Flipping Into a Diner for Summer With Frozen Dirty Shirley's and Popcorn Soda
The Standard Hotel Meatpacking is launching another seasonal pop-up, this one dubbed the Standard Soda Shop. Think: popcorn-flavored soda, frozen Dirty Shirley's (a twist on the crowned drink of summer 2022), with savory items like Taylor ham breakfast sandwiches, mini corn dogs, turkey clubs, and banana pudding for dessert. It plays into the wider trend we've seen in the city over the past five years, with a crop of new wave diners and luncheonettes. It opens to the public on June 20, per a spokesperson. An East New York White Castle is shutting down, much to the chagrin of locals. The reason for the shutdown? Toxic chemicals and other carcinogens apparently found in the soil beneath the establishment, Gothamist reports (a spokesperson for White Castle denied knowledge of environmental concerns in a statement to the publication). A herring festival will return to the New York icon Grand Central Oyster Bar on June 23, an annual event that the restaurant has hosted for more than four decades. It is considered a premier catch that is 'air-expressed directly' from Scheveningen, in the Netherlands. The event is free for the public to attend, according to a spokesperson. It has long been an event that politicians have placed their hats on, a collaboration with the Netherlands consulate. In coverage about the event from 2018, then-mayor Bill de Blasio said: 'New Yorkers are known for having strong and varied opinions on just about everything, but we can all agree that relishing delicious food is one of life's greatest pleasures. The iconic Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal has served fine seafood to our diverse residents and visitors for decades, and its annual herring festival is a much-anticipated event among culinary aficionados.' See More:
New York Post
16-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
In a fit of common sense, the Times echoes our anti-Mamdani ‘endorsement'
What a pleasant surprise! The New York Times' editorial board not only deigned to address city politics early Monday, it even echoed our advice in the Sunday Post: Democratic primary voters shouldn't give Zohran Mamdani even a fifth-place vote; leave him off your ballots entirely! More, the Times declared that 'a certain version of progressive city management has failed' — the version pushed by Mayor Bill de Blasio that 'was skeptical of if not hostile to law enforcement,' claimed 'schools needed more money and less evaluation' and 'blamed greedy landlords for high rents, instead of emphasizing the crucial role of housing supply.' Mamdani has embraced 'an agenda uniquely unsuited to the city's challenges' that 'reads like a turbocharged version of Mr. de Blasio's dismaying mayoralty.' Advertisement Worst, 'he shows little concern about the disorder of the past decade, even though its costs have fallen hardest on the city's working-class and poor residents.' We have no idea what's going on inside The Times Building, and won't be surprised if much of the editorial board quits over this fit of common sense — but we'll enjoy it while it lasts.
