Zohran Mamdani Is Winning. And Politicians Everywhere Should Take Notes
In 100 days, New York’s mayor proved that bold, principled politics doesn’t just drive mass mobilization — it delivers results
Let me tell you what “impossible” looks like when you stop being afraid of it.
In just 100 days, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has:
Secured free childcare for two year olds
Opened the city’s first public grocery store
Won $10 million for gig workers
Paid $30 an hour to shovel streets
Delivered historic low crime and murder rates
Filled 100,000 potholes
Negotiated a tax on second homes of the ultra wealthy from Gov.Hochul
For the first time in New York State history—a tax on pied-à-terres: the multimillion dollar second homes that wealthy out-of-state residents park in Manhattan while working people can barely afford to stay in the city they actually live in. Under this landmark agreement, any second residence in New York City valued at $5 million or more will now be taxed at a higher rate—money that goes back to the people of New York, not to the billionaires who treat the city as a luxury storage unit.
One hundred days. That is all it took. And here’s how we must keep building.
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The Pied-À-Terre Tax: A National Blueprint
Let’s dwell on this latest win—because it matters far beyond New York City. By slightly raising taxes on only 13,000 homes, New York City will generate another $500 million for working people.
For years, housing advocates, tax justice organizers, and working-class New Yorkers have demanded that the city’s most exclusive real estate—properties worth millions, owned by people who don’t even live here full time—contribute meaningfully to the public good. For years, they were told it was politically impossible. That the wealthy would fight it. That Albany would never agree.
Mamdani and the coalition of organizers behind DREAM for NYC didn’t accept that answer. They organized. They pressured—and are still pressuring. They made their voices impossible to ignore. And they won—securing a negotiated agreement with Governor Hochul that makes New York the first state in the nation to tax pied-à-terres at this scale as they continue fighting for a budget that refuses to force working New Yorkers to foot the bill for the ultra wealthy.
Here is the video announcing this win in tax the rich negotiations with Gov. Hochul.
This is not just a policy victory. It is a proof of concept for the entire country — especially in the wake of Trump’s trillion-dollar handout to the Epstein class.
If New York can tax the second homes of the ultra-wealthy, so can California. So can Illinois. So can Texas. So can every state where working people are being priced out of their own communities while the wealthy treat their housing market as an investment portfolio.
The tax-the-rich movement is not a slogan. It is a strategy. And it is working.
But the fight is not over because the pied-à-terre tax is a first step. The campaign for a millionaire income tax and put NY’s corporate tax on par with New Jersey—essential to funding the full vision of a city that works for everyone—is still being negotiated. Governor Hochul has not yet submitted her final budget. The movement to make it happen must increase its efforts to make these changes happen. And while the window to make history is open, it will not stay open forever.
This is the moment to turn the volume all the way up.
If you live in New York, sign DREAM’s petition right now and demand we tax the rich.
If you don’t live in New York, send this to your friends, family and exes in New York.
Every signature matters. This win proves that organizing works. Don’t stop now—organize a similar letter in your own state!
Governor Hochul: Choose Your Side
The pied-à-terre tax win was made possible because Mayor Mamdani negotiated with Governor Hochul—and that negotiation produced something historic.
And to state once more for absolute clarity, the remaining fights—the millionaire income tax, the corporate tax, free buses for working New Yorkers—will require the Governor to make a clear and consequential choice. Will Governor Hochul stand with billionaires who want to keep hoarding wealth while workers struggle? Or stand with the millions of working New Yorkers who are watching, organizing, and voting?
Let me offer her a piece of advice that transcends ideology: Mamdani already proved which side has more power.
It was not the billionaires who won the pied-à-terre tax. It was the people—organized, persistent, loud, and united—who made it impossible to say no. Whether Governor Hochul’s north star is serving working people, or political self-preservation, the math remains straightforward: the people who organize, vote, and show up are more numerous and more powerful than the donors who write checks.
Governor Hochul: the organizing is not stopping. The pressure is not stopping. And the window to be on the right side of history—to be the governor who helped deliver a more just New York—is still open.
Choose wisely.
This Is What Happens When You Put Principles Above Partisan Cowardice
Politicians who have spent decades telling you that change is slow, complicated, and incremental should be paying very close attention. Because Zohran Mamdani just called their bluff. There is a class of politician—and you know them well—who treats boldness as a liability. Who looks at a popular, necessary, morally urgent policy and says: not yet. Not now. The time isn’t right. We have to be realistic.
Zohran Mamdani is going to make such politicians go extinct.
Mayor Mamdani has proven in 100 days of bold, principled, people-powered governance that every politician in America who has ever used the word “realistic” as an excuse for timidity, has lied to us. And as Americans, we are done waiting. The people are not asking for the possible. They are demanding the necessary.
Free childcare is necessary. Public groceries are necessary. Living wages are necessary. Taxing the ultra-wealthy is necessary. Historic safety for communities is necessary. And a city where working people can actually afford to live is necessary and long overdue.
Zohran Mamdani is winning. Not despite his principles. Because of them.
Politicians everywhere should be afraid—not of him, but of what he represents: the proof that the people, organized and determined, are more powerful than any donor, any lobbyist, or any political machine that tells them to wait their turn.
We are not waiting any more.
Sign the petition. Tax the rich. Keep the pressure on:
Qasim Rashid is a human rights attorney, author, and host of Let’s Address This — a platform dedicated to human rights, economic justice, and the bold politics that corporate media ignores. Subscribe, share, and let’s remain relentless in our mission for a more perfect Union.
AND I particularly loved that Mamdani recently walked the six miles from his office to his home, talking to people along the way. A true people’s leader. There’s something about walking that connects us more to ourselves and each other.
For at least thirty years Michigan has a similar policy. There is a "homestead" property tax and a noticeably higher "non-homestead" (ie vacation homes) property tax. A million dollar vacation property would pay about $9,000 more in property taxes.