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Comment by dralley | Hacker News Reader

> Mamdani. Millennial candidate. No dirt. Other that some stupid stuff he said while he was young, his policies are relatively common sense and middle of the road, and are aimed at leveling the playing field.

Look, Mamdani ran a good campaign, and if I was an NYC voter (I am not) I'd probably vote for him out of the options provided.

However, this just is not true. Many of his policies are neither "common sense" nor "middle of the road". Especially not on education and dealing with the homeless and public transit. And lots of his dumb comments were from like 2 years ago, not 12 - he was not "young" when he said them.

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> And lots of his dumb comments were from like 2 years ago, not 12 - he was not "young" when he said them.

If you're talking about the "globalize the intifada" comment, he actually never even said that, but a whole lot of people (you among them, it seems like?) have been brainwashed into thinking he did through political maneuvering.

The root of that whole drummed up controversy was him refusing to blanket condemn the phrase when media people (never attributing it as something he himself had said) kept asking him to.

And he was always very clear what his reasons for that were, which were extremely reasonable to anyone who isn't a kneejerk ultra zionist.

Here's him talking about it for those that want to form their own opinion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggV2SeiGrVw

It's so depressing that the entire Mamdani debate has become mired in Israeli politics. You can completely ignore that issue, and still have plenty of questionable stuff to talk about. He has repeatedly talked about defunding the police. Literally, not figuratively, and not that long ago [1a-c].

He said he wanted to close down Rikers Island, right in the middle of the debates [2]. He said that prisons are unnecessary [3]. He said he wants to empty jails [4-6]. His comments on crime and policing, in general, are quite extreme. I could set literally every other topic to the side, and this would be a voting issue for me.

These are his words. I'm not taking them out of context or reinterpreting them. About the only response to this stuff a reasonable person can muster is "he doesn't believe that now". Yeah, OK. I guess we'll find out...

[1a] "NO to fake cuts - defund the police." https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1277414510131916801

[1b] more on his historical comments on defunding: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/31/politics/mamdani-defund-p...

[1c] "dismantle" the police (in this case, the Vice squad): https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1336087694636707841

[2] "Yes, we have to close Riker's island" https://www.facebook.com/reel/1380642053476909

[3] prisons unnecessary: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/out-of-touch-ma...

[4] "the goal must be to abolish [prisons]" (plus multiple other variations on that theme) https://x.com/peterjhasson/status/1937682021276410317

[5] "The entire carceral system is an unreformable public health hazard. Defund & dismantle." https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1328828240757215234

[6] "what purpose do [prisons] serve?" https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1945929553274196188

[1] does not mean no more police. The NYPD has $11 billion in funding and has offices all over the world for some reason when they should really just be city-sized for NY. They are overfunded, and he believes they should not be.

[2-6] indicate that our current prison system is punitive and does nothing in the way of rehabilitation or reform. No, he will not close every prison. Yes, in an ideal world we would not need hundreds of prisons full to the brim because we would actually rehabilitate and release people. This is hardly a fringe opinion and it is in fact a very common criticism of our prison system. Interpreting these statements as "he is just going to stop prisons and let all the violent criminals out in one go!!!" with no further though IS reinterpreting his words uncharitably because obviously that would be stupid.

Re [1], he explicitly says the opposite in the posts I linked to. You're just ignoring what he literally says and writes, and substituting your own feelings on the matter.

Regarding prisons, again, he is explicitly talking about closing down prisons. He has moderated his rhetoric more recently on this issue, but no, your interpretation of the subject is not what he's saying here, and it clearly isn't what he means, even today.

He has a long history on these topics. I'm not misinterpreting his comments.

He does not literally say the opposite. Either way, you'll see what I mean when none of this goes the way you think that it will. He's in office now anyways.

He literally says the opposite. It's why I quoted what I did. Very first link:

> We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.

> What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD.

> But your deal with @NYCMayor uses budget tricks to keep as many cops as possible on the beat.

> NO to fake cuts - defund the police.

The only way you can say this doesn't mean "defund the police" is by re-defining his words using Orwellian double-speak ("he doesn't really mean defund"), and then, when you get to the last line, ignore the part where he explicitly tells you not to do that. No fake cuts! Defund!

>Many of his policies are neither "common sense" nor "middle of the road"

It seems like common sense to hear "cityfolk pay taxes, buses are paid for by taxpayers. Therefore, bus rides should be free for cityfolk". There's a lot more to it, but most voters are not going to read the 50 page proposal that Mamdami would need to submit to the govenor to get the wheels rolling.

I think that's enough for it to fall under "common sense". Policy you can explain in 3 sentences or less. Homeless people need help, not to be arrested. Invest in an organization who makes sure that these people get help so they don't stay on the streets.

(I can't find his education policy on a quick skim of the website and plan).

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