A progressive bonfire of the vanities, ‘Mad-Mani’ style



New York City has met many challenges in its history as the capital of capital.

The constant problem that surrounds the city is that with great wealth comes great political profligacy. It is not the first time New York has found itself staring down a time for choosing at the barrel of a gun.

Trump hasn’t yet nicknamed Zohran Mamdani ‘Mad-Mani,’ but whatever he’s called, he’s a real threat to the city.

Tom Wolfe captured the “radical chic” and “mau-mauing” of the compromised big-city life in America, most obviously in San Francisco and New York. But Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his capable chieftains snuffed out the bonfire of the vanities through such commonsense policies like fixing broken windows policing, CompStat, and welfare to work — commonsense policies that fueled an urban renaissance, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg inherited, embraced, and built upon over his three terms.

Memories are short

Somehow, New York voters forgot what unbridled crime in the streets and rampant racialist and redistributionist policies in city hall did to their quality of life. And so they elected Bill de Blasio as mayor. As promised, he swiftly began dismantling the regime of good governance that had made the city great again.

Eric Adams was elected precisely because the people of New York City wanted a return to law-and-order sanity after eight years of de Blasio’s progressive dumpster fire. Sadly, Adams proved to be too ethically compromised to effectively resist the flood of illegal immigrants — many of whom were dispatched on border state buses — who filled the Port Authority. Housed in luxury hotels at taxpayers’ expense, they tested New York City’s sanctuary resolve.

Motivated by his political survival instincts, Adams’ spine stiffened. Conveniently, he was summarily whacked with a federal indictment. “More lawfare!” said his defenders. “Just following the facts where they lead,” countered the Justice Department careerists.

Nevertheless, Adams and Donald Trump found common purpose — and this triggered Democrats in general and progressives in particular. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), naturally, called for Adams to step down “for the good of the city.” You know, the new mantra of the left: guilty until proven innocent.

What are the political odds of Mayor Adams winning against the Democratic Party blob that has just nominated 33-year-old anti-Israel, Marxist Zohran Mamdani as its mayoral nominee? Not good. Right now, far from a coin toss.

RELATED: Mamdani’s socialist New York sounds great — if you don’t have kids

  Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Adams and New York City have four months to mount a credible, winning opposition. It’s a window of political opportunity that would not exist if it were not for Trump gratuitously playing a lawfare card of his own in the form of a timely presidential pardon, giving Adams a new lease on life — and New Yorkers a last chance to inhabit a livable city.

Trump hasn’t yet nicknamed Mamdani “Mad-Mani,” so I’ll go ahead and do it for him. Whatever he’s called, he’s a real threat to the city. Peter Orszag spoke for many successful business executives — the ones responsible for New York’s financial health. Appearing on CNBC, Lazard’s CEO revealed how troubling he found Mad-Mani’s “globalize the intifada” language — not to mention the would-be mayor’s antipathy for free-market capitalism and dislike for the wealthy.

New vanguard rising

Orszag strongly hinted that his firm, and all the public and cultural goods that it underwrites, could relocate to more friendly climes. Florida beckons.

What have this longtime Democrat in good standing and others, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), been hearing from the socialist-friendly new guard?

It’s “they” — the old guard — who are no longer in charge of New York City politics. The Brooklyn progressives are running things now. Atop the pyramid is the new Adam and Eve, political power couple Mad-Mani and AOC. The vibe they send out is that they would happily have the old guard acquiesce to their agenda or move to Boca Raton.

What does this ascendant power couple hold to be shared and self-evident? For them, Israel and America are both apartheid states, and capitalism is the engine of inequality. And this anti-Semitic, anti-capitalist, anti-American power couple is trending on Instagram and just won the Democratic primary. AOC is coming for you, Chuck.

An appeal to sanity

Why do Democrats hold fast to obvious falsehoods? The answer is that they are repeating what they have been taught in school, from Head Start to college classes. This is what most American kids are being taught, unless they were homeschooled, took the Catholic school route, or went to Hillsdale College.

Schumer and Orszag know this, as do untold numbers of sensible, centrist Democrats. Many of them know the “Chicken for KFC” mindset firsthand in their own families and that their kids, grandkids, and wives are voting for this madness. The intifada chicken has come home to politically roost — and on your watch and with your wallet.

A new coalition of sanity needs to be built and built quickly. New York is worth fighting for and saving.

While conservatives and centrists were shaking their heads in mirth at the spectacle of “Dykes for Palestine,” AOC was still basking in the spotlight for successfully derailing a proposal from Amazon to build a second headquarters in Queens, adjacent to her congressional district. Not because she wanted the jobs in her Bronx district, but because she didn’t want them in New York City at all. Mind you, this was a project so beneficial to the area — it included some 25,000 jobs — that not only was Andrew Cuomo for it, but so was Bill de Blasio. AOC, though, was content to invoke the specter of “corporate greed,” which is what passes for reasoned debate among this generation of young Democrats.

RELATED: New York City’s likely next mayor wants to ‘globalize the intifada’

  Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

The reality is that New York City Council, and the protest industrial complex surrounding it, has gotten a lot younger. They are the ones doing the work, organizing, showing up, and winning elections. The Democratic Party is nothing without the protest industrial complex. George Soros and his son pay well and seem to have a taste for chaos.

The progressive ramparts have their favorites. They want true believers running things.

Sorry, Chuck, they are not that into you anymore. Truth be told, they never were.

Although New York has not had a viable two-party system for a long time, when things get bad enough, New Yorkers turn to a law-and-order Republican like Giuliani or an independent like Mike Bloomberg. But do NYC voters really need to wait for all those broken windows — and the chaos it symbolizes — to materialize again before waking up?

It is time for New Yorkers’ wallets to shut tight on Mamdani and open wide for Adams. A new coalition of sanity needs to be built and built quickly. New York is worth fighting for and saving. Its future hangs on the choice those who have not yet left make now.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

New York City Council sues to shield illegal aliens from ICE's return to Rikers Island



The New York City Council filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Mayor Eric Adams (D) to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from returning to Rikers Island.

Last week, Adams' first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, issued an executive order allowing ICE to occupy office space at Rikers Island, the site of a prison managed by the city's Department of Correction.

'While we will review the lawsuit, this one seems baseless and contrary to the public interest in protecting New Yorkers from violent criminals.'

ICE was previously booted from the area in 2014 after then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) formalized New York City's sanctuary policy protecting illegal aliens ultimately at the expense of public safety.

Mastro's action indicated that there is a "critical" need for federal law enforcement officers' presence on the island to enable them to share intelligence with the DOC and the New York Police Department, particularly to curb "criminal gang activity."

The order stated, "The safety of the City of New York has been jeopardized by violent transnational gangs and criminal enterprises — including transnational gangs such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua — that have been designated by federal authorities as foreign terrorist organizations."

"There is historical precedent for federal law enforcement authorities to have office space and personnel on Rikers Island as recently as a decade ago," it read.

Adams' administration noted that ICE's return to Rikers Island would not conflict with the city's sanctuary laws because it allows the agency to coordinate only on criminal investigations and not civil matters.

The council's lawsuit argues that Mastro lacked the authority to issue the order, further citing that he failed to first complete a "meaningful independent analysis."

Additionally, the council claims that the action was tied to an alleged "corrupt bargain" between Adams and the Trump administration to have the criminal case against him dropped. Adams and the White House have denied any allegations of a quid pro quo.

"The 'purchase price' — which was agreed to in advance and is now being proffered — is the safety and well-being of immigrant communities and all New Yorkers whose rights are protected by our city's prized sanctuary law," the lawsuit reads.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is running against Mayor Adams in the upcoming election, stated, "Once again, this City Council is standing firm to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers against attacks by the Trump administration — because the city's mayor won't stop placing his own personal interests ahead of the people of our city."

"New York cannot afford its mayor colluding with the Trump administration to violate the law, and this lawsuit looks to the court to uphold the basic standard of democracy, even if our mayor won't," she added.

Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokesperson for the mayor, told the Gothamist that Mastro's executive action "is expressly authorized by New York City's local laws — the very laws enacted by the City Council."

She noted that Mastro "independently concluded that a federal presence at Rikers to conduct federal criminal investigations is in New York City's best interest and protects public safety, particularly in our ongoing efforts to target violent transnational gangs now present in our city, including those designated as terrorist organizations."

"While we will review the lawsuit, this one seems baseless and contrary to the public interest in protecting New Yorkers from violent criminals," Mamelak Altus added.

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Migrant Charged With Subway Murder Enjoys Three Hots And A Cot On Rikers Despite Adams’ ICE Handover Pledge

'This is lunacy'

NYC shelter operators pocket massive taxpayer-funded salaries while others hide pay: Report



During a Tuesday New York City Council meeting, members discussed an October report that discovered rampant mismanagement within the city's taxpayer-funded shelter system, including conflicts of interest and nepotism.

The report resulted from a year-long investigation by New York City's Department of Investigation into the city's $4 billion homeless shelter system.

'We are paying an indirect cost rate.'

The investigation uncovered instances where shelter providers had personal business interests that enabled them to receive additional payments, including situations where executives were employed by a private company that the shelter contracted using public funds.

The DOI also discovered that some shelter providers had employed family members of executives and board members in violation of their contracts.

The report highlighted "numerous cases" involving shelter providers' noncompliance with competitive bid requirements.

"For example, the review identified multiple instances where shelter providers awarded multimillion-dollar building maintenance service contracts to companies affiliated with the buildings' landlords," it read.

Additionally, the DOI revealed that multiple shelter executives received generous taxpayer-funded salaries totaling more than $500,000 annually, noting "in some cases, more than $700,000 per year, from providers and related organizations."

Of the city's 87 contracted shelter providers, 13 have still not disclosed their executive compensation levels, violating their agreements with the Department of Homeless Services.

During Tuesday's oversight meeting, City Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan (D) stated that "blank checks to outside vendors and no-bid emergency contracts seem to flow like a never-ending freshwater stream through city hall."

Council member Julie Won (D) said, "When providers can submit and receive approval for invoices with over $117,000,000 in unspecified vendors, it suggests a fundamental weakness in the city's contract management systems."

Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park faced questions regarding the report's findings, including an instance where a shelter provider's chief executive paid himself over $1 million in a year.

Wasow Park stated that the DHS no longer partners with that provider.

"Executive compensation is not paid directly through our contracts," Wasow Park explained. "We are paying an indirect cost rate that not-for-profits then use to pay for a variety of overhead costs, including executive compensation."

She also noted that the city has "absolutely strengthened our disclosures across the board, executive compensation or otherwise."

Following the release of the report, a spokesperson with the DSS told the Associated Press that "every instance of non-compliance very seriously, which is why DSS has completely stopped doing business with a number of providers highlighted in the report, enhanced invoice review policies and practices, and reinforced our robust audit and accountability mechanisms."

The spokesperson noted that the report "does not reflect our current contracting and oversight processes."

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Clinton ally Anthony Weiner files to run for office in NYC, counting on voters to overlook child-sexting conviction



Disgraced Democrat former congressman and registered sex offender Anthony Weiner has formally filed to run for the New York City Council.

On Friday, Weiner opened a campaign committee called Weiner 25. He then filed the paperwork to run as a Democrat for the 2nd District seat, which will be vacated next year by Carlina Rivera, who is term-limited. The seat represents several neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan.

Despite taking these significant steps and being scheduled to speak at a forum for Downtown Independent Democrats on Thursday, Weiner, 60, insisted to the AP that he is "still exploring" his options and may not actually campaign after all.

Weiner made similar statements to the New York Post, claiming that the committee he formed is truly "exploratory."

"[They] made a precondition of participating in their candidate forum that you had to have an open committee, so here I am," he explained.

'The things in my past, the things about my addiction, the things about my acting out, the things about my background — it’s a lot, it’s a lot.'

Weiner is no stranger to the council. He served on it from 1992 until 1998, when he was elected to Congress to replace then-newly elected Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Once in federal office, Weiner quickly made a name for himself and was eventually seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party. That view changed in 2011 when he was forced to resign because he had been caught sexting several females, including one minor.

At the time, he was married to Huma Abedin, a close adviser to Hillary Clinton. In December of that year, Abedin gave birth to their son, Jordan.

Two years later, Weiner tried to stage a political comeback by running for mayor of New York. However, yet another sexting scandal involving the online pseudonym "Carlos Danger" sank his campaign before it ever really began, and he was trounced in the Democratic primary.

Weiner's disturbing sexting proclivities made national headlines again in 2016 after the FBI began investigating Clinton's emails and discovered that Weiner had been sending explicit photos to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina.

News of the photos tarnished Clinton's presidential campaign and apparently ruined Weiner's marriage to Abedin. It also prompted further investigation into Weiner, who eventually pled guilty to one felony count of transferring obscene material to a minor.

Weiner served 18 months for the crime. He was released in 2019, when a judge ordered him to register as a sex offender for at least the next two decades. The judge labeled Weiner a level 1 offender, meaning that he poses a low risk of reoffending, the AP reported.

Since then, Weiner has begun hosting a weekly radio program. During an episode last month, he discussed his interest in returning to public office, slamming his fellow Democrats for inadequately responding to the recent resurgence of the Republican Party.

"We’re at a moment that we Democrats, we seem like we come into knife fights carrying library books all the time," he said.

While he vaguely acknowledged that he comes with a lot of baggage — "The things in my past, the things about my addiction, the things about my acting out, the things about my background — it’s a lot, it’s a lot" — he indicated to his radio audience that he has more to offer: "I love doing this job on the radio, but I want to be of service."

Should he fully commit to campaigning for the council seat, he will face stiff competition in the Democratic primary. Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, Manhattan Community Board 3 Chair Andrea Gordillo, and Community Board 3 Vice Chair Sarah Batchu announced their respective candidacies long ago and already have a strong head start on fundraising.

Epstein said he'd welcome more people in the field. "Anyone who wants to run should run for sure," he told City & State New York. "That is the democratic process."

Gordillo and Batchu, however, did not try to hide their disdain for Weiner or his attempt at yet another political comeback. Gordillo called Weiner a "failed New York and Washington politician," while Batchu was even more blunt: "Trump wins, and now every creepy, washed-up politician thinks they can make a comeback. My constituents deserve better than to serve as the audience for a disgraced politician’s redemption tour."

Weiner did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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NYC Council Democrats Silent On Anti-Sanctuary Bill As Migrant Crime Hits Headlines

'I don't see it changing'

Democrat NYC councilwoman arrested for allegedly biting NYPD deputy chief at Brooklyn protest



A first-term Democrat on the New York City council was placed in handcuffs and hauled away to the police station after she allegedly bit an NYPD deputy patrol chief during an unruly protest over a prospective homeless shelter.

On Wednesday, 38-year-old Susan Zhuang — a Brooklyn-area city councilwoman who describes herself as a "common-sense Democrat" — joined others gathered near the intersection of 25th Avenue and 86th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, to protest the construction of a men's homeless shelter. The protesters believe that the shelter would pose a risk to nearby schools and senior centers because it is likely to attract men struggling with mental illness and substance abuse.

'There is never any excuse or justification for assaulting a police officer. There should be no double standard in this case.'

The group of protesters began with some 150 participants but soon swelled to about 300, creating safety concerns for police at the scene. At one point, some of the protesters, perhaps including Zhuang, tussled with cops over some security barriers. Some of the incident can be seen at the tail end of this video.

Tensions at the protest apparently reached such a fever pitch that Zhuang allegedly bit Borough Brooklyn South Deputy Chief of Patrol Frank DiGiacomo. Her office later claimed she had attempted to protect an 80-year-old woman who was pushed against the barriers.

Zhuang was arrested at the scene and taken to the 62nd Precinct for processing. She has been charged with second- and third-degree assault, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration.

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell was shocked by her arrest. "Councilwoman Zhuang has been a great partner with the NYPD for a long time," he insisted. "But the actions today, by assaulting one of our police officers, a deputy chief, by biting him viciously in the arm, I can't explain it right now."

Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association — which endorsed Zhuang — was likewise stunned. "We are extremely shocked by the reported violence against NYPD members at today’s protest in Brooklyn, especially because Councilmember Susan Zhuang has been a steadfast supporter of police officers during her time in the Council," he said.

"There is never any excuse or justification for assaulting a police officer. There should be no double standard in this case. After a full and fair investigation, Councilmember Zhuang and anyone else involved must face full accountability for their conduct."

Democrat Mayor Eric Adams described the entire incident as "unfortunate" and claimed he would "reach out" to Zhuang and the NYPD to get better clarity on what happened.

In a statement, the New York City Council condemned violence in general and added that it "will respect the processes of the NYPD and Brooklyn District Attorney" with regard to Zhuang's case.

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Lawsuit Against NYC Elections Board Slams Noncitizen Voting Law For ‘Discriminatory Intent’ Harming Black Voters

On Monday, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) filed a federal lawsuit against the New York City Board of Elections for its foreign citizen voting law. Local Law 11, passed by the New York City Council in January, allows noncitizens the right to vote in the city’s municipal elections. The lawsuit alleges that such an act violates […]

New York City Just Canceled Thomas Jefferson

NYC officials on the Public Design Commission unanimously voted on Monday to remove a longstanding statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall.