NYC mayor says he's raising taxes and cutting police numbers to tackle racism, as he touts his proudest socialist wins since coming to office

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 14:51, 13 April 2026 | Updated: 14:59, 13 April 2026 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated his first 100 days in office by touting his socialist wins, which include plans to raise taxes and shrink the police force. The democratic socialist boasted about his accomplishments and reiterated campaign promises at a rally on Sunday. 'No longer will city government be afraid of its own shadow. If anyone should be afraid, it is those who take advantage of working people,' Mamdani declared.  It comes after Mamdani allegedly tried to slip diversity, equity and inclusion measures past the Trump administration by removing direct references to DEI from a racial equity plan he released last week. The 34-year-old mayor justified the Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan (REP) by citing a $180,000 racial wealth gap in the city.  'Now, in this report, what we've seen, it's a report that is both coupled with a true cost of living report, is that the inequities in this city, the racial inequities are stark,' Mamdani said on Tuesday. 'We are talking about findings that have shown that the wealth of a median white household in the city is more than $200,000, while that of a black household is less than $20,000.' The plan aligns with Mamdani's $127 billion budget for 2027, which includes higher taxes on wealthy residents and a reduction of the NYPD by 5,000 officers. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated his first 100 days in office by touting his socialist wins Mamdani's $127 billion budget for 2027 includes higher taxes on wealthy residents and reducing the NYPD by 5,000 officers At his rally, Mamdani vowed to follow through on several campaign promises, including opening the first of five city-run grocery stores next year. The first is set to open in East Harlem in 2027, and he said there will eventually be one in each of the city's five boroughs by the end of his four-year term.  'At our stores, eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation,' said Mamdani. The mayor also promised to make buses free and faster, despite not having a clear plan on how he would achieve that.   'Tonight, we're delivering the fast, and we're excited to keep working with Albany to deliver the free,' he said, referencing the governor and the state Legislature, which controls the taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) budget. Critics have slammed the proposal, arguing it would turn the city's buses into mobile homeless shelters. Mamdani failed to include the free bus plan in his budget proposal and was unable to get state legislators to include it in their plans.  Last week, Mamdani even admitted to Politico that he would not be able to deliver free buses this year. Mamdani justified his controversial racial equity plan released last week by citing a $180,000 racial wealth gap in the city At his rally, Mamdani vowed to follow through on his campaign promises of free buses and city-run grocery stores '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,' Mamdani said.  Instead, he boasted about a small pilot program for free buses that some lawmakers seemed interested in.  'Both legislative houses included language within their one-house budget proposals in support of bringing back a free-bus pilot program,' Mamdani said. 'That is something that we are encouraged by, and it continues to be part of budget negotiations.' The Daily Mail contacted Mamdani's office for comment.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.