Governor Kathy Hochul just threw a wrench into Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s grand vision of free city buses in New York, citing the harsh reality of a cash-strapped transit system.
At a recent political retreat in Puerto Rico, Hochul expressed deep skepticism about Mamdani’s plan, which carries a hefty $700 million annual price tag, while highlighting her reluctance to back other progressive promises like taxing the wealthy to fund expansive social programs, as New York Post reports.
Let’s rewind a bit—Mamdani rode a wave of affordability promises to victory in the New York mayoral race just last week.
His campaign buzzed with ideas like free, speedy buses and no-cost child care, but now he’s hitting a brick wall with Hochul, who endorsed him back in September but seems less thrilled about his socialist-leaning agenda.
At the SOMOS conference on Saturday, Hochul made it clear that the state is already pouring funds into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for critical projects, leaving little room to slash fare revenue.
“We’re spending a lot of money, so I cannot set forth a plan right now that takes money out of a system that relies on the fares of the buses and the subways,” Hochul stated, drawing a firm line in the fiscal sand.
Her words sting for Mamdani’s base, who’ve been chanting “tax the rich” at Hochul lately—apparently to her visible annoyance—but let’s be real, balancing a budget isn’t as catchy as a protest slogan.
Without support from Hochul and Albany lawmakers, Mamdani’s big-ticket items, like free bus, are stuck in neutral, though top legislative Democrats like Carl Heastie and Andrea Stewart-Cousins seem more open to his ideas.
Hochul isn’t entirely shutting the door; she’s hinted at working toward free child care, though she warned it could take years and cost billions—hardly the quick win Mamdani’s supporters crave.
She pegged the price of statewide free child care at a staggering $15 billion, equivalent to her entire reserve stash, which raises eyebrows about the practicality of these sweeping promises.
Mamdani, for his part, remains optimistic, saying, “I continue to be excited at the work of making the slowest buses in America fast and free.”
Good for him for keeping the faith, but enthusiasm doesn’t pay the bills, and Hochul’s pragmatic pushback suggests this partnership might be more friction than harmony.
Meanwhile, Hochul’s post-conference jaunt to the Dominican Republic for a “cross-cultural” breakfast hints at her focus on key voting blocs ahead of her 2026 re-election bid—smart politics, if a bit disconnected from the bus fare debate.
On a separate note, her visit with Rev. Al Sharpton to a Manhattan food bank amid a SNAP program crisis shows she’s not ignoring everyday struggles, even if her stance on free buses feels like a cold shoulder to urban progressives.
Ultimately, this clash between Hochul’s fiscal caution and Mamdani’s bold agenda underscores a broader divide among Democrats—moderates versus socialists—and with an upstate city electing a 20-year-old self-described communist to its council, the leftward push isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
