Chicago's budget shortfall puts spotlight on Mamdani's 'socialism' agenda for New York City

The mayor said this week that the city will need to take steps to deal with looming budget shortfalls and that key systems that Chicago provides, including education, housing, health care and transportation, are "woefully underfunded."

"There are no perfect budgets. But we have come a long way, and this one gets pretty close," City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a press conference announcing the deal in late June.

Mamdani, a Ugandan-born state assemblyman from the New York City borough of Queens, is proposing to eliminate fares to ride New York City's vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) "tuition-free," freezing rents on municipal housing, offering "free childcare" for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores.

There are concerns that the significant spending increases to pay for Mamdani's proposals, along with the possibility of revenue shortfalls, could put a strain on New York City's budget.

And at the center of Mamdani's proposals to pay for his pricey plans is a "millionaire's tax," which critics say will spur ultra-wealthy New York City residents to flee.

And Mamdani's rivals in November's mayoral election are also taking aim at him.

Adams has said Mamdani is making "false promises" that will hurt low-income New Yorkers. And the mayor argues that Mamdani's proposal to set up government-run supermarkets will "devastate the local bodegas and local stores."

A day earlier, as he proposed his own plan to address affordability in New York City, Cuomo charged that Mandani is "proposing a theory of socialism that has never worked anywhere."

"What is the best answer to affordability? It is business development. It is opportunity. It is jobs. It is economic growth. It is not anti-business socialism," Cuomo said as he asked and answered his own question.

Firing back, Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec claimed that "trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York's affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire - he created this crisis."

"Trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York's affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire - he created this crisis," Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.