'This will wreck New York' – Heather Mac Donald on Mayor Zohran Mamdani

New York has elected Zohran Mamdani — and Heather Mac Donald, fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Spectator writer, warns the city is heading for trouble. She tells Freddy Gray why she thinks Mayor-elect Mamdani’s agenda on crime, housing and education could undo decades of progress, and why this moment feels like “a student activist government taking over a real city”. // CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction: “Goodbye, New York” 05:18 – Housing, affordability and socialist ‘solutions’ 08:22 – Gen-Z politics and urban decadence 12:34 – Jewish vote + New York’s pro-Palestine turn 17:58 – “Let New York learn the hard way” 20:44 – Can Trump dismantle DEI? 21:17 – Why federal grants don’t ‘save’ cities 24:17 – The death of the Giuliani model 32:45 – What New York has forgotten // SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPECTATOR Get 12 issues for £12, plus a free £20 John Lewis/Waitrose voucher https://www.spectator.co.uk/tvoffer // FREE PODCASTS FROM THE SPECTATOR Hear more from The Spectator's journalists on their podcasts, covering everything from the politics of the UK, US and China, to religion, literature, lifestyle and more. https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/ // FOLLOW US   / spectator     / officialspectator     / the-spectator     / spectator1828     / thespectatormagazine