Ross Douthat: Mamdani Is at the Top of the Cyclone But It’s All Downhill From Here

The Cyclone is the name of the iconic wooden roller coaster in Coney Island that has been there for almost 100 years. Like all roller-coasters, it lifts riders to a steep point and then lets them drop just as steeply and race around the track for a few moments of excitement.

Today, Ross Douthat argues that Zohran Mamdani has probably peaked, like a rider of the Cyclone it’s probably all downhill from here.

It’s official: Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor of New York City, raising the flag of the far left over Gotham. And if you believe the hype or the fears of his critics, then the 34-year-old Ugandan-born Muslim democratic socialist is poised to remake the Democratic Party, thrilling young voters, mainstreaming socialism and anti-Zionism, and offering himself as the starkest possible contrast to that other New Yorker in the White House.

But I’m skeptical. The odds are that Mamdani’s victory is actually less significant than you think…

the office of mayor of New York City has tended to be a political springboard to nowhere.

Time and again, we’ve seen famous New York City mayors, from John Lindsay to Rudy Giuliani to Michael Bloomberg, hyped as national political influencers, only to flop outside the five boroughs. When Eric Adams was elected just four years ago, there was a lot of talk about how his distinctive branding as a tough-on-crime African American moderate might make him a leader for the national Democratic Party.

Obviously, that didn’t work out, and all of those figures were at least trying to be centrist or moderates.

We’ve seen this play out before, and not just with mayors. New York voters elect someone on the far left and the whole country is obliged to get excited about them. It was true of AOC obviously and while she could be running for the Senate soon, she’s probably the exception that proves the rule. Other lefties who’ve made a splash recently haven’t been as successful. 

Jamaal Bowman won a seat in congress in 2020 and was inaugurated in the squad. Cori Bush was elected in Missouri that year too. Both of them were examples of the young, vibrant left that had defeated stale Democratic incumbents. They were going to shake up Washington and be part of a resurgent left-wing.

And now, just a few years later, both of them are gone. The original four members of the squad—AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib — are still around but their numbers aren’t growing and their impact seems pretty limited.

Mamdani’s best outcome, according to Douthat, is that the complete novice at any kind of work manages New York City so well that he, like AOC, can move on to some statewide office. But if things don’t go perfectly, he could just as easily wind up like Bill de Blasio, another leftist mayor who promised voters the moon and wound up disliked by most of them, to the point that he couldn’t win a seat in congress.

Mamdani’s problems have already started.

FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker tendered his resignation Wednesday, the morning after Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral election victory at the polls, the Daily News has learned.

In a letter to Mayor Adams sent less than 12 hours after Mamdani’s win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa, Tucker announced his last day will be Dec. 19…

Tucker, who is Jewish and a Zionist, felt he wouldn’t mesh well with Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, and his team, the source said.

I’m guessing he won’t be the last person who finds he can’t work with Mamdani. This is not an uncommon problem with far-left activists who wind up trying to be managers. The former DA of Los Angeles, George Gascon, was constantly fighting battles with staff in his office. His own prosecutors eventually voted that they had no confidence in him. He was sued several times for allegedly using demotions and job assignments to punish his critics.

I’m betting that creepy smile that Mamdani always wears in public isn’t going to hold up behind the scenes for very long. How long before the damaging leaks begin? How long before we see his true colors when it comes to the NYPD, who he clearly doesn’t respect at all.

It’s possible that he could temper his extremism a bit and maybe learn on the job, but if his victory speech last night is any hint, he’s not interested in that. On the contrary, he sounds eager for a fight. And one thing you can count on in New York City is that he’ll get one.