Indeed
These incidents are said to have happened right through Farage’s secondary school career, up to the age of 17/18, including an evident abuse of disciplinary powers as a prefect.
The “just banter” defence seems to me to be no real defence. I can see in that a twisted logic - but “I didn’t mean it seriously” must imply an admission of bullying, just using what was most obviously to hand.
And if that’s a part of his mindset…
The comparison with Farage misses something very important and very simple.
Mamdani is running by appealing to people who care about these sorts of things even when they’re done by a staffer.
Farage is running by appealing to people who don’t care about these sorts of things, even when done by the candidate themselves.
It’s not purely a left vs right thing - see: Graham ‘the Boy with the Nazi Tattoo’ Platner who somehow hasn’t dropped out yet - but it’s a strong correlation.
Nevermind.
Zohran has been sworn in.
Andy Cohen managed to get out one last rant at Mayor Adams before the end of his broadcast tonight.
Mamdani seems to have kept a lot of Adam’s’ staff members. Not a criticism, more observation.
He’s a terrific orator. I’m sure he’s more than just that — and we’ll all find out how much more, in the next several years — but at least you can say that much. I say this with admiration, not dismissiveness — I think oratory can have real value.
Is that surprising? Sure, some of them are probably jerks who should be shown the door, incompetents who got their position by sucking up to the right people, and/or people whose political vision disagrees with Mandami’s, and anyone in any of those categories should be replaced. But there should also be a sizable contingent of people who aren’t in any of those categories-- Why would he replace them?
“Meet the old boss. Same as the new boss.” Granted, there’s always going to be something he does that no one likes, and it would be impractical to scour the city government down to the bone just to give the image of a clean sweep.
He should stay there.
I imagine most administrations leave most of the staff in place. There are a lot of bureaucratic, technical things the office of the mayor needs to do, and the office is full of people who know how to do those things.
Yeah, there are political appointees and then there are the people who keep things running. Sometimes they overlap, but not as often as one might think.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/17/mamdani-new-york-city-property-taxes-budget-00784077
Mamdani floats increasing New York City property taxes as part of $127B budget plan
The mayor says increased property levies could be harmful but argues they’ll be necessary if the state doesn’t enact a new tax on millionaires…Mamdani unveiled a $127 billion preliminary budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which begins in July. As part of that plan, Mamdani is relying in large part on a 9.5 percent increase in city property taxes — which he can do without state approval — to help close a projected $5.4 billion revenue shortfall over the coming two fiscal years.
Basically a 10% increase on property tax. Very unfair to those on a fixed income.
Like many things he promised, it’s not something he has the power to do. He can not unilaterally raise the property tax rate. He can propose it but the city council has to approve it. They are unlikely to pass it.
I think the idea was to threaten state level legislators into raising the corporate tax rate by threatening to do this if they don’t do that. But he doesn’t actually have the backing he needs to do either…?
Everyone I’ve seen at the city government level has come out against the proposal. He’s in the steep learning curve part of politics right now.
So he bluffed and got called on it.
That said, I doubt Mamdani is stupid, he probably knew this wouldn’t work out. Maybe he just wants to be seen fighting for these policies whether or not they can realistically pass.
Yeah, I don’t claim any particular knowledge about NYC politics but if as reported above he’s facing a $5.4 billion shortfall over two years then making a lot of noise now about how he has concrete plans to find the money and it’s other people responsible for blocking his access to it seems like a smart play.
A smart play for his image, or for his ability to actually govern the city well? I suppose it might be both, but that is pretty rare in life.
A skilled politician should be able to combine both seamlessly. If you think that X policy will be beneficial to your constituency, push for it. If it passes, point out to your constituency how successful it was, at the next election. If it doesn’t pass, then at the next election, point out the people who blocked it, and try to get the voters to replace them, so you can pass it in the next term.