I really hope I don't earn a Fell For It Again Award from Mamdani, but in his (and my) defense there are all kinds of forces trying to constrain his budget, and that's a brick wall for any plan no matter how good.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
67 points (100.0% liked)
electoralism
22247 readers
212 users here now
Welcome to c/electoralism! politics isn't just about voting or running for office, but this community is.
Please read the Chapo Code of Conduct and remember...we're all comrades here.
Shitposting in other comms please!
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
The problem is a significant number (think 18 or more, article says 19) of people froze to death while outside, which was obviously terrible and also gave him a ton of bad press. So this is the quick reversal after shit hit the fan and people died. There's a lot of institutional inertia behind policies like this, and once you start changing things unintended consequences (even very bad ones like people dying) can happen if not accounted for. Running a city is very difficult, I could never do it. I don't know what policy Mamdani is going to come up with in future, but hopefully it's not this, just going back to sweeping homeless encampments. That's not good either, homeless people don't deserve to be "swept up".
realpolitik-wrapped cowardice at best, careerist nihilism at worst. For someone even nominally trying to combat landlordism, this is a move that empowers their greatest baked-in threat. Further emiserating evictees while holding "speak bitterness"-esque hearings is Peak Socdem Behavior.
As a current member of DSA (kinda flirting with PSL tbh atp) they seem to have no recourse to hold their figureheads to the party line. As of now, it's a launching platform for left-flank liberals to get their feet off the ground in politics. What is their plan after the elections if someone sells out?
city sanitation workers often trash tents, makeshift encampments and other belongings if people refuse to pack up and go to a shelter or another location
Homeless man crushed to death in his tent last year during an encampment sweep
pressure to resume sweeps [...] intensified after at least 19 people died outdoors during a recent stretch of cold weather
"It's getting cold outside. We should trash their only existing shelter to improve their chances of survival."
atlanta democrats wew
Local business leaders would prefer they freeze to death in Jersey City instead
He means sweeping up bits of trash and broken glass from the ground around the encampments, because basic sanitation and human dignity are a right for all NYC residents, right?
At present, British Communists very often find it hard even to approach the masses, and even to get a hearing from them. If I come out as a Communist and call upon them to vote for Henderson and against Lloyd George, they will certainly give me a hearing. And I shall be able to explain in a popular manner, not only why the Soviets are better than a parliament and why the dictatorship of the proletariat is better than the dictatorship of Churchill (disguised with the signboard of bourgeois “democracy”), but also that, with my vote, I want to support Henderson in the same way as the rope supports a hanged man—that the impending establishment of a government of the Hendersons will prove that I am right, will bring the masses over to my side, and will hasten the political death of the Hendersons and the Snowdens just as was the case with their kindred spirits in Russia and Germany.
That's disappointing, is he at least making a real effort to house these people?
Allegedly,
Mamdani said the city’s new sweeps policy will look “far different” than it did under the Adams administration, starting from the day outreach workers begin notifying street homeless New Yorkers of a scheduled sweep.
“Every single day of that time period will be characterized by outreach, outreach from homeless services workers to homeless New Yorkers,” he said.
Housing advocatea arent buying that though. This isn't being done because he's got brand new housing online, its being done because he's caving to local business leaders. From the paragraph before.
Mamdani has faced pressure to resume sweeps from business leaders, elected officials and media outlets since he halted the policy days after taking office. Those calls intensified after at least 19 people died outdoors during a recent stretch of cold weather — though it was unclear how many of the people were living in encampments. At least five had permanent housing.
There's this problem with politicians where they believe they have to "represent" or hear out everyone of their constituents. NO, you don't! In fact, one of the first lessons you need to learn as an elected official is who to ignore, who to tell to fuck off, and who to actually listen to (the people who voted for you).
Republicans understand thus. Not sure why even the Mamdanis of the world can't figure this out.
It is impossible to please the haters. The best thing you can do is hold your values and positions and build a fanatical core of supporters. God imagine a Trump for the left!
I suspect this behavior is endemic to most politicians (people pleasers) and the secret is just making sure the the last person in the room is one of your own.
We're frankly just not going to have people comfortable telling haters to fuck off simply because we're not strong enough to back it up. Trump has millions of die hard supporters that he sort of fears. DSA has ~100k nationally.
Those calls intensified after at least 19 people died outdoors during a recent stretch of cold weather
This could have easily been the largest factor here. Apparently this winter in the northeast has been one of the colder, longer winters in a couple of decades. I suppose we'll see if this policy changes again when the weather improves.
But its not like the sweeps save anyone from freezing to death. Its just looking like he's doing something while making it worse. If he reverses come spring I would be extremely unsurprised.
it could if they actually had housing lined up...
tell the police not to remove squatters and let the unhoused people live in those vacant apartment buildings.
Fuck...
Can we make supporting this guy a bannable offense already?
Come the fuck on