By Dr. Naomi Wolf
Outspoken
August 14, 2025
I started to feel guilty, in reacting on social media to New York City Democratic nominee Zohran Kwame Mamdani: to this immediate legacy-media darling, this Uganda-born, collectivization-advocating, smugly smiling, beautifully beard-groomed Bowdoin graduate, whose expensive, cleverly packaged Mayoral race launched him into our collective consciousness a few months ago, out of thin air. I try never to be personal, in my political assessments, and I feel guilty because my reaction to Mamdani is so personally aversive.
It is aversive because of the lie-and-deception factor.
Mamdani, as I will reveal, is a nepo son dressed as a communist - but a communist takeover of NYC is not what really motivates this man, not what is really behind this campaign.
Apart from the full-spectrum communist agenda which Mamdani superficially offers, one reason for my sense of personal queasiness when I consider this candidate in various settings is because I know guys like this. Though I am of another generation, some things do not change.
I went to school with guys like this. They are Jaspers. Let's call that archetypal guy, Jasper.
Here is Jasper with the classic graphic Marxist raised fists and the Chinese communist graphic sun rays:
Jaspers are smarmy legacy rich young men, who never had to work for money in their lives; who have that one darling, costume-y thing - that raffish curl over the forehead; or who wear that quirky fisherman's cap, or that Palestinian jelabiya, though they hail from Darien, Connecticut - and who embrace the cause of "the workers," abstractly, or, in my day, say, of the Marxists in El Salvador.
"The people! United! Will never be defeated!" That's for the march on the campus green. Then - let's all go have a latte at the dining club.
This cosplay lasts just so long, before they go back to scooping up the vast privileges of their perches on the better-paid edges of the visual arts, or of filmmaking, as they let the interest in their trust funds compound.
In my experience, when it comes down to their personal wellbeing and comfort, I have learned that Jaspers will, right-on pronouncements or no, personally sacrifice nothing.
That's why I was not surprised when the news broke that Zohran Mamdani lives in a rent-stabilized $2300 a month one-bedroom apartment in Queens. His supporters flocked to defend this situation, stating that there are no income caps for rent-stabilized apartments. That is true now, but was not true from 2011 to 2019; if Mamdani's $142,000 plus salary, in addition to any other income he had, rose above the cap of $200,000 a year, or if his now-wife or another household member was living with him then, and earning income over $58,000, Mamdani would have been in violation of the program regulations, which were obviously designed to help struggling middle- and working-class New Yorkers: "Between July 1, 2011, and June 13, 2019: [the limit for rent-stabilized housing was] household income above $200,000 for two consecutive years, with the rent at or above $2,500 initially, then adjusted to $2,700 and increasing annually."
Why am I nitpicking about this? It matters.
One reason is economic unfairness. The average Queens market rate one-bedroom is $4216 a month. So if Mamdani is now living in a rent-stabilized apartment he secured in violation of the pre-2019 rules, he is saving $1916 a month, or $22,992 a year. Now, imagine that you are a trust fund kid and don't need those savings to live on. Watch it compound. Watch your money, in contrast, - if you need it to live on from month to month - not compound.
Mamdani's privileged smarminess in taking up an apartment, in violation of the regulations or not, that was clearly intended to benefit people who can't afford to pay more - and then his defending that decision by hairsplitting - is typical of how these rich young men behave. The Jaspers are always letting others pick up the check. They are always finding the loophole, the tax write-off, the way around the rules, that does not apply to the boring, hardworking rest of us. And their hypocrisy in doing so, even while presenting themselves as champions of the downtrodden, is never, ever evident to them.
I saw the same character pattern when it came to Mamdani's application to Columbia University. Now, all of us overachievers heading to elite universities, at 19, desperately tried to see if there were ways to get an advantage in the application process. There is nothing unusual about that. But Mamdani's Columbia University application is a kind of Mobius Strip of wokeness, twisting in upon itself and ending up on an indeterminate plane: Mamdani's father was a Columbia University professor, so already his application would have garnered favorable attention not available to non-faculty kids. So he is already privileged as a "legacy." Plus he descends from wealthy parents, which counts, as Ivies are expensive. But no! He sought to compound his actual double privilege with purported double victimization/oppression. So he checked "Black or African American" and "Asian" on his application, and wrote in "Ugandan."
The New York Times reported:
"Asked to identify his race, he checked a box that he was"Asian"but also"Black or African American,"according to internal data derived from a hack of Columbia University that was shared with The New York Times.
Columbia, like many elite universities, used a race-conscious affirmative action admissions program at the time. Reporting that his race was Black or African American in addition to Asian could have given an advantage to Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and spent his earliest years there."
When The New York Times sought a response, Mamdani "said his answers on the college application were an attempt to represent his complex background given the limited choices before him, not to gain an upper hand in the admissions process [...]
"Most college applications don't have a box for Indian-Ugandans, so I checked multiple boxes trying to capture the fullness of my background,"said Mr. Mamdani, a state lawmaker from Queens.'"'
He could, of course, have written in "Indian-Ugandan" rather than checking "Black or African American". He is neither Black nor African American.
But no.
And it is Jasper's language too that sets my teeth on edge, with that flourish of "the fullness of my background." Do we of whiteness have no "fullness of background"?
(As it happened, Mamdani did not get into Columbia. He went to Maine's liberal arts college Bowdoin, in which he majored in "Africana Studies." He also wrote several student pieces attacking "Zionists" and criticizing his own newspaper for its lack of "diversity of opinion," calling that omission of viewpoints the action of "white supremacists".
He may deeply believe all these things. But New Yorkers, who actually are diverse, deserve to understand that Jasper/Zohran, who declines to condemn the term "globalize the Intifada", sees their rich, multicultural city, as if it is divided into warring race- and religion-based factions; not as a melting pot in which we all are individuals, and in which we all become New Yorkers.)
Lastly, there is Jasper's purchase or inheritance (unclear) of what he calls raw land in Uganda. The New York Post states that Mamdani owns four acres of unimproved raw land, valued at $150,000-200000. Where is it? No location disclosed.
"A quarter of a century after moving to the U.S., Mamdani's net worth today is still based in the East African country from which he emigrated. According to the financial disclosures he filed as a state assemblyman in 2023, he acquired four acres of land in Jinja-a region of Uganda bordering Lake Victoria that contains the source of the Nile River-in 2012. He lists the land's value as between $150,000 and $250,000. On the disclosure he filed as a mayoral candidate earlier this year, he says that he acquired the land in 2016 and that it remains vacant and unimproved. Whether he purchased it, was gifted it, inherited it or otherwise is unclear, as is the reason for the discrepancy in the date, and his campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment."
This is a weird business deal, because here is what you can get for $144,000 in Uganda. This is the Cadenza luxury apartment building, presented by Vaal Real Estate: you can get a one-bedroom luxury apartment with a barbecue area, track, swimming pool, gym, paddle court, restaurant, concierge and "aroma garden." "Nestled in the vibrant heart of Nakasero, Cadenza Residence is a living composition of Studios, 1 and 2 bedrooms that redefines the meaning of luxury living in Kampala. Neighboring several embassies, and with the Parliament of Uganda, State House, and the United Nations office nearby, Cadenza Residence's location in this blue zone area guarantees security and prestige":
Leaving aside the issue of why there is so much murkiness (two purchase dates, huge valuation) around these four mystery unimproved acres of Ugandan land, and of what all that may mean in entrusting Mamdani, who was a rapper before he was an Assemblyman, who has had almost no jobs (one was for his mom), who has no business background at all, - a man who passed only three bills as an Assembly member and who was absent half of the time, with the highest absentee r ate in the Assembly - with the management of the most valuable real estate infrastructure in America, and with a $2.1 trillion dollar economy, the largest metropolitan economy on earth -
Why are almost all of this candidates' assets still located in a foreign country?
Mamdani became a naturalized citizen only in 2018, the year before he ran for office. Indeed, he is not solely an American citizen. He is a dual citizen.
His marriage is offshore, his land is offshore.
Why would you come to America at 7 and only become a naturalized citizen decades later, just before you run for office in America? If you believe in New York City, why not bring your assets to New York City? Of you really care about America, why do you need two passports?
Why not give one up and just be - an American?
Are you so attached to an identity as citizen of one of the worst regimes on earth - one that engages in arbitrary arrest and detention, assassinates activists, restricts freedoms of speech, and has some of the worst laws on earth against homosexuality - that you would rather cling to being a national of that country, than simply an American?
Why?
In only 2023, Uganda got rid of the death penalty in general for homosexuality, but, according to Amnesty International, "The court upheld provisions in the law that discriminate against LGBTI people and carry harsh penalties, including the death penalty, for"aggravated homosexuality"and up to 20 years' imprisonment for the "promotion of homosexuality"."
Seriously.
Seriously Jasper.
Why not just be an American? Why not just be an actual New Yorker?
Are you proud of this?
Zohran Mamdani is like a socially acceptable drug for guilty affluent white people.
I remember when I first saw his campaign material. It seemed so lulling and seductive - like a hunk of excellent hashish wrapped up in the trappings of a political campaign. But when you drill into it, it really amounts to: free everything.
New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier.
Freeze the rent.
[...]
As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent. [...]
Fast, fare free buses.
[...]. Fast and free buses will not only make buses reliable and accessible but will improve safety for riders and operators - creating the world-class service New Yorkers deserve.
Read More at The Nation [...]
No cost childcare [...]
Zohran will implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high quality programming for all families. And he will bring up wages for childcare workers - a quarter of whom currently live in poverty - to be at parity with public school teachers. [...]
CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES
[...]
As Mayor, Zohran will create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.
Read More at The New York Times
Housing by and for New York.
[...]
As Mayor, Zohran will put our public dollars to work and triple the City's production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes - constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. [...]
Read more in our policy memo".
Again, basically — free everything.
The problem is — we have already tried communism, in New York City even, and it does not work.
Public and Section 8 housing exist already in New York and its boroughs; families pass on Section 8 apartments from generation to generation; meanwhile the "projects", which have been a New York experiment in living since the 1930s, have an unmediated 90 year track record of blight, vandalism, gang activity, violent crime, horrible mis management and decay.
Indeed, incarceration and public housing have a long record of going together. A paper titled "Study Reveals Pipeline from Public Housing to Prison in NYC," found "that incarceration is spatially concentrated in census tracts with NYCHA developments. In 2010, 17% of the state's incarcerated population originated from 372 tracts with public housing developments, even though those tracts accounted for only 6.3% of New York State's population. [Italics mine]. Compared to non-NYCHA tracts, incarceration rates (per 100,000 residents) were 4.6 times higher in census tracts with NYCHA developments. Moreover, 94% of tracts with NYCHA developments had incarceration rates that were above the median value for non- NYCHA tracts."
The thing is, that connection is not new. We have known that public housing leads to crime and gang activity — for decades. But no: Mamdani's vision is: more of the public housing that has failed for 90 years.
Mamdani's Manhattan:
As for state-run grocery stores? We have seen those in the Soviet Union. Many New Yorkers who immigrated from that tyranny, remember the experience of waiting in endless lines for inadequate state-managed groceries. This is what that looks like — a Soviet grocery store in the 1990s:
And: what will state-run, "affordable" grocery stores do to the 13,000 bodegas, or small grocery stores, that are the "backbone of NYC", and often owned by hardworking legal immigrants? Oh — this will undercut them and kill them off. Oh — never mind that, says Jasper.
"Fast, free buses?"
You'd think that free transportation was a boon to communities. But in fact, cities that have tried it, found that there are terrible downsides when transit is free. If NYC did away with fares for buses and the MTA, VitalCity.com estimates that we would need to find $5.2 billion from other sources, to fill the budget chasm left behind by the loss of fare revenue. Studies show that free buses in a pilot program in NYC did not significantly increase ridership by people who were not already using buses; and that without revenue to fix the subway and bus network, systems fall into chaos and disrepair.
Mamdani has not specified where the lost $5.2 billion will come from — or the billions for free child care, the billions for affordable housing units, the billions for the state-run grocery stores, and so on and so on. Oh — except for a Jasper-ish calling for an additional tax on "the rich."
Eventually, New Yorkers see through this. New Yorkers can do math.
The untruthiness of Jasper is consistent. His campaign was untruthy, as I reported in my last essay, in claiming that a July 2025 poll that was reported as showing him trouncing his rivals, was real. As I explained, it was paid for by his supporters and it cherry-picked respondents. But the legacy media that misreported this poll as a home run for Mamdani did not bother to look at it, as it clearly showed that Mamdani was not in fact "winning", but was in fact, with registered voters (the ones that count), in a statistical dead heat with Governor Cuomo.
The weird legacy media unwillingness to properly read poll data, continues. As I write, a new poll has been released, by Siena. It is showing Mamdani 19 per cent ahead of Andrew Cuomo. But there are three rivals to Mamdani: Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams and activist Curtis Sliwa, splitting the vote, of course. Among registered voters even in this poll, 44% support Mamdani — and 25% support Cuomo, 12 per cent Sliwa, and 7 per cent, the hapless Mayor Adams.
So that opposition to Mamdani adds up to — 44 per cent. Depending on who drops out between now and November, and who aligns, the race is not Mamdani's by any means.
So the question remains: why is legacy media — funded or owned, often, these days, by Big Tech — so determined to paint a deceptive picture, of Mamdani as the inevitable Prince of New York?
Is it because he is a communist, and legacy media loves communists?
No.
It is because, as I shall explain in my next essay, he is Big Tech's stealth candidate; the communist free giveaways are nothing but window dressing, to get the man elected — for the benefit of Silicon Valley.
Whether he is facing paparazzi with his mom at a gala, or unhygienically dining where someone's pants seat has just been on the Q train — as if — dude! — that is how real NYC people eat every day while on a subway —
Jasper abides — but he abides as the stealth weapon of Silicon Valley.
The people who are actually funding Mamdani — who disproportionately own or influence the legacy press — who need him to win -
See our beautiful city, our five struggling boroughs, our roads, our bridges, our infrastructure, even our people, as I shall explain next —
As nothing more
Than as physical extensions of their apps.