TikTok shows immigrant families’ reactions to Zoran Mamdani’s victory
Zoran Mamdani was sworn in as New York’s first Muslim and Asian American mayor, and TikTok showed a kind reaction from an immigrant family on election night.
New York City’s next mayor, Zoran Mamdani, may have to put the brakes on his initiative to make buses free in the Big Apple.
“We can’t come up with a plan right now to take money out of a system that relies on bus and subway fares,” Gov. Cathy Hochul told reporters at a Nov. 8 press conference.
However, Hochul left open another possibility.
“Can we find a way to make it more affordable for people who need it? Of course we can,” she says.
Mr. Hochul spoke on the final day of the annual conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The conference brings together leaders and officials from both New York and Puerto Rico to meet to strengthen ties and strengthen the Latinx community.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is Zoran Mamdani’s free bus scheme?
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani focused on providing the city with “fast and free” buses. On October 8, he even touted the idea by riding a local bus to a press conference about the proposal. As if to prove Mamdani’s point that service needs improvement, the bus was 25 minutes late.
Mamdani told multiple media outlets that New York City has “the slowest buses in the country.” It doesn’t have to be that way, he said.
“Eight miles an hour,” he told NBC New York while riding a bus with reporters and videographers who filmed the scene. “I was able to arrive before the bus even though I was walking next to it for this interview.”
What is the solution? He said buses should be free, people should not have to queue and should be able to use all bus entrances at each stop.
When one of the local women questioned the practicality of the plan, pointing out that if the buses were free, more people would get on them and the buses would be even slower, Mamdani quickly responded.
“You can’t make it free on your own,” he says. “We need to make it free while actually creating the infrastructure to make it faster. So at the same time as making it free, we need to ramp up the service and make sure we take advantage of all-door boarding, because a lot of the problem with dwell times at bus stops is because everyone has to go through the front door.”
When a reporter pointed out to Mamdani that making buses free would be the purview of the Metro Transit Authority, he cited former mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was responsible for building the subway station. “The city has the ability to have a lot of influence over what the MTA does. It’s just that we’ve never had a mayor that actually cares that much about the slowest buses in America,” he told NBC New York.
How much does a free bus in New York City cost?
Mamdani’s campaign estimates the cost of making the bus system free at about $800 million a year, and told CBS News that the city could cover the cost of free fares by increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5% and implementing a 2% tax rate for New Yorkers with incomes of $1 million or more.
Can New York Governor Kathy Hochul block Mamdani’s free bus plan?
It’s unclear whether Mr. Hochul will be able to completely put the brakes on Mr. Mamdani’s plans, but one expert told CBS News that without his support, the plan would be much more difficult.
“He’s going to need the support of the MTA and the Legislature, really, the governor,” J.C. Polanco, a professor at Mount Saint Vincent College in the Bronx, told the magazine. “Is[Hochul]going to raise taxes? She’s already said no.”
What is happening now?
Mamdani’s team did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on whether they will continue to pursue free bus fares.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, was elected on November 4th, defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. He will officially assume office on January 1, 2026.
