The best news from this election night in America is that the brownstone homes in the West Village are about to become a hell of a lot cheaper. Why? Because so many wealthy New Yorkers and corporates pledged to flee the city if Zohran Mamdani became mayor. And now that he has, surely they will – right?

Don’t hold your breath. Gloomy, self-serving predictions like this have come and gone over the past 400 years, and while it’s true that the city’s success tends to be cyclical, New York is still New York. And it always will be.

Zohran Mamdani claims victory in the New York City mayoral election.Credit: Bloomberg

Still, Mamdani’s election is a genuine political moment. He’s a young Muslim immigrant, a democratic socialist, and he’s taking the reins of a city synonymous worldwide with capitalism and greed.

And yet, anyone who has spent any time in New York knows that’s only a part of the story. The city is, and long has been, a progressive stronghold – full of aspiring........

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