Washington Post shreds Mamdani’s proposal for buses in New York City

The Washington Publish editorial board on Saturday criticized New York’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to overtake town’s bus system.

The newspaper argued that the democratic socialist candidate’s promise to eradicate bus fares and make routes extra environment friendly could be expensive to taxpayers, even those that don’t use the service.

“Many cities have eradicated bus fares, however there are at all times prices related to that. Olympia, Washington, did that in 2020 to keep away from having to improve their fare card readers, however elevated the native gross sales tax. Meaning everybody pays whether or not they drive or not,” says the board wrote.

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The Washington Publish editorial board has torn up New York Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for New York Metropolis’s bus system. (Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Photographs)

The editorial first famous the excessive price of Mamdani’s proposals and disputed the candidate’s suggestion that the value could be minimal.

“To make sure, the self-described democratic socialist estimates that his proposal would price town ‘just below’ $800 million a 12 months, which is $50 million lower than what New York is spending on the brand new Buffalo Payments stadium.”

“Oh, is that every one? The truth is, it is not,” the board wrote, including that the mayor’s plans to make the buses sooner and extra dependable will additional enhance the excessive prices.

“In fact, that may even require much more spending. Mamdani has promised to construct new devoted bus lanes throughout town and different service upgrades. He additionally desires extra loading zones on metropolis streets so individuals can get on sooner. So add these prices to the invoice as nicely,” the outlet added.

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JERSEY CITY, NJ – NOVEMBER 15: The solar units on the Midtown Manhattan skyline and the Empire State Constructing in New York Metropolis on November 15, 2024, as seen from Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Photographs)

The editorial famous that middle- and lower-income taxpayers would bear the burden, as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., “has already dominated out elevating taxes on high-income residents to pay for his agenda.”

The board additionally warned that Mamdani’s free bus system might result in crime and vandalism.

“Different free methods have been criticized for turning into magnets of crime and vandalism, akin to Portland, Oregon, the place free transit was led to 2012.”

The board added: “High quality inevitably declines when a service is obtainable ‘free’. Vagrants and drug addicts would camp out all day on New York’s buses, particularly in winter. Mother and father would grow to be afraid to let their youngsters trip alone. Wealthier residents would discover one other option to get round, however poor New Yorkers who rely on the bus would endure essentially the most.”

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Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks to volunteers throughout a canvas launch in Brooklyn on September 28, 2025. (Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket through Getty Photographs)

The Publish’s editorial employees criticized Mamdani a number of instances throughout his marketing campaign.

In a June editorial, the administration warned that his candidacy is “unhealthy” for New York and the Democratic Get together.

“New Yorkers ought to fear that he would lead Gotham again to the unhealthy outdated days of societal dysfunction, and Democrats ought to worry that he’ll discredit their subsequent technology of occasion leaders, nearly all of whom are higher than this democratic socialist,” the report mentioned.

In an editorial earlier this month, the Publish ripped Mamdani’s proposal to part out early elementary applications for presented college students for the sake of fairness, calling the thought “stunning.”

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Mamdani didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.