New York City Zohran Mamdani admitted to Politico that his campaign promise for free buses won’t happen in 2026.
What a shock:
In Albany, no one has included the free bus plan in their budget proposals, and it seems like that’s not something that your administration is pushing hard for this year. Have you already accepted that might be something you’ll be pushing in 2027 instead of 2026?Both legislative houses included language within their one-house budget proposals in support of bringing back a free-bus pilot program. That is something that we are encouraged by, and it continues to be part of budget negotiations. I’m absolutely committed to making buses fast and free, and we’re encouraged by the conversations we’re having with the governor and legislative leaders to take action on that in 2026 as a first step.
Yeah, you are the mayor of the most important city in the country, but that doesn’t mean you can snap your fingers and everyone does as you say.
Nothing is free. Absolutely nothing. Even if no one left NYC, the city wouldn’t generate enough revenue to pay for all of Mamdani’s promises.
The mayor claimed his free bus program would cost between $600 million and $700 million. MTA countered the math because, well, if buses are free, then more people would ride them. So the actual cost would rise to $1 billion.
Mamdani has proposed that people who earn over $1 million a year pay a 2% city income tax surcharge and that larger companies pay a higher corporate tax rate.
However, Mamdani cannot enforce those tax changes without approval from the New York legislature. He’s attempted to use his pull by threatening a 9.5% property tax hike if the legislature won’t pass a wealth tax.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has engaged in talks with Mamdani, but in January, she said no free NYC buses for now:
The governor said she’d prefer to support New York City with budget deficits for other essential services like housing, education, and homelessness.“The city’s going to need us for a lot of help this year,” Hochul said. “They’re going to be looking at where the gaps are, they’re going to be coming to us to ask for that kind of support… and I think that’s the primary conversations we’ll be having through the budget process.”
The thing is, when Mamdani made those campaign promises, he must have known he couldn’t do anything right away. There’s a process.
But most people think politicians can do whatever they want, so they accept campaign promises as reality.
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