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Zohran Mamdani and the Politics of Joy

And it’s backed up by actions and initiatives that seem designed to genuinely foster a joyful city.

During his mayoral run, Zohran Mamdani’s opponents warned that he was inexperienced, idealistic, and sure to be ineffective. But, just over six months into his term as New York City’s chief executive, Mamdani and his team have made demonstrable progress on his banner campaign promises—freezing the rent, universal childcare, public grocery stores, fast and (eventually) free buses.

They are proving—most recently by appointing trust-busting former FTC commissioner Lina Khan to the city’s Economic Development Corporation—that they are serious about making New York fair and affordable.

But perhaps the most visible shift that Mamdani has so far brought to the office has to do with lighter, yet no less serious, concerns. This mayoral administration is improving life for everyday New Yorkers through a politics of joy.

As Mamdani said on his ninth day in office, his agenda is not simply about curbing the city’s most urgent crises, but also includes helping “working people to afford lives of joy.” That includes an intentional, visible effort to make many smaller-scale improvements to quality of life in the city. And it also includes efforts by the mayor himself to show up in the places where New Yorkers let loose and celebrate side-by-side with them.

This is not something that New Yorkers have always been able to take for granted. In flexing their tough-on-crime bona fides, local politicians have long focused on deterring unwanted behaviors while providing far less support for the infrastructure and programs that help make a city an enjoyable place to live.

Rudy Giuliani’s administration made little affirmative effort to cultivate joy. In a New York Times piece titled “No-Fun City,” Rudy Giuliani was described as spending much of his second term “shadowboxing against errant cabbies and jaywalkers” before being thrust into the national spotlight by 9/11.

Meanwhile, Eric Adams—who, as mayor, admittedly provided a joyful municipal presence at many nightclubs and high-end eateries—consistently painted a stark picture of New York as a........

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