A New Year's Repost! Zohran Mamdani (NYC's Brand New Mayor) Pops In

29:33The reason that it was at a core part of my campaign, though, is any mayor with an agenda that is as ambitious as the crisis in front of them will require state partnership. Okay. Because the city is effectively a creature of the state, especially after the 1970s fiscal crisis. So one of the most impressive achievements in city politics in the last few decades was the creation of universal pre-K. That was done by the previous mayor, Mayor de Blasio, who ran on that as part of his agenda, needed Albany to get it done. There were all these articles written about how it was unrealistic. He went up against a governor who was very much opposed to it.

30:14And he won the funding for that because of the coalition that he built. And so my point here is that there are some things you can do directly yourself. There are other things you will have to build the coalition around you to do. But all of these things have to be part and parcel of it. Because I can tell you, to my mind, one of the most frustrating things you can tell a New Yorker when they call your district office is, oh, that's not actually my jurisdiction. you should call this person or you should call at that level being the mayor of this city comes with immense power not to say total power at all but immense power to at least start an agenda and then start to deliver that agenda when you build the coalition you need that's where I see the possibility in these three things so okay great this is great wait you know when you when you say the thing about the book of power it makes me think of like I think you and I actually had this conversation we talked about how mostly me giving ideas we talked about how again I don't care where good ideas come from no you know my idea is people shouldn't worry about their egos but no but we had this conversation about we talked about we talked about Trump and we literally we joked and we said it feels like Trump was the first person to read that book do you know what I mean because there's so many things no because there's so many things where Trump is doing it and then people are like can a president do that and then it's like oh yeah he can and you're like wait wait wait wait We didn't know that you could do all of these things And I think that's sort of what the question is And I think it's We have this transition, we have four incredible co-chairs One of them is Lina Khan And Lina Khan Can we get Lina Khan on the show by the way?

31:49She's one of my favorite human beings No, can I tell you We'll have a separate conversation about this I'll tell you why Let's take away from our time Yes, but it'll add time value It'll add value No, I'll tell you why Lena Khan like you see on a wall of like superheroes the way I hate monopolies mergers acquisitions and you know this as my friends Orlando Pirates I don't think that counts what about the Orlando Pirates what do I have to do but thank you for that you think he hates I can't tell what the hell mergers acquisitions Kaiser Chiefs oh man You broke my brain like Orlando Pirates. Cortez with no ration.

32:39No. Anyway, I'll tell you, she's a hero because I think she taps into, and I think that's maybe why you picked a part of it is she taps into the understanding that not everything is happening on the surface the way you think it is. And then you go like, why did that happen? Why did that happen? And then she's like, oh, let me show you where it started. Like she's at the origin story of a lot of these things. And she spoke about that when she first got to her job, she felt like she was experiencing the great forgetting where she got there and it felt as if so many people working in government had forgotten the tools they had at their disposal.

33:12You see, that's what I'm talking about. You nailed it. And I think there is a need for imagination for the new kinds of policies and proposals you put forward and also an ambition to use your existing set of tools to actually transform people's lives. Don't go anywhere because we got more What Now after this.

34:01Savanamo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. College students, get 12 months free of Uber One for Students membership program and get deals on things you're already doing. Deals like 10 % off Eats,$0 delivery fee, and savings on Ubers even during peak times. Get 12 free months of Uber One for Students and save on Uber and Uber Eats. 12-month free membership offer for eligible students who aren't members. Available while supplies last or through 12-31-26, whichever comes first. Subject to change or cancellation, revocable due to fraud if not an eligible student. Every house has a beginning.

34:30ours starts with a rebellion this is not just fashion this is freedom worn out loud a place where individuality isn't a look it's a law perfect is boring the algorithm doesn't know you you do a look is never just a look it's a declaration it's time to step out and into somewhere new step into the house of burl and find a burlington near you

35:02do you think can I just one more question just sorry sorry really this is now he's not sorry now okay one more question now just to wrap up the powers thing do we all agree as New Yorkers that ambulances are too loud is it something oh I feel like this has turned this has literally turned into those it really has turned into a town hall no I'm just no your posture can I tell you I always look at when I watch town halls and people come up and do this thing I'm always like Who are these people I didn't know I'm friends with one of them Hey The posture The everything Just like Can we all agree That ambulances Are too loud Also And speaking of Powers Yes exactly Here's my pet issue But Yes He's like We're talking about Mergers and acquisitions I like how Dave Gave himself citizenship As citizen Yeah yeah You can Wait wait wait Dave Dave wait No but actually I do like this question Because I think You know why As I get it Macro versus micro I think these are like The nice things To try and understand I'll interpret for you Yes So now One We all agree that ambulances Are too loud Way too loud in New York Way too loud I agree They're too loud They're way too loud One ambulance And the entire Manhattan Knows that You know that Yes I agree You don't even know Someone's about to lose their life No no You don't even know Is that too much of an inconvenience For you For the car to tell you No let me explain Eugene wait Let me explain Let me explain This is what Dave means really You don't even know Where it's coming from It's pointless at some point It knows where it's going That's the most important part Yes but nobody knows Where it's coming But anyway finish asking it Cool so now Would you say That in some way Or form The citizens of New York Both documented And undocumented I'm not even joking Because you're trying To expose me But Trying But now Would you say That it is That you pledge To have a Like some sort of Database Not database But link So that we can see What's inside the ambulance This is Castapo, yeah.

36:59What's going on? Oh, because, because... I never knew where the next sentence was going. Oh, where the next sentence was going? Welcome to Dave. Welcome to Dave. You just summed up Dave. If there was a review of Dave... So if it's too loud, you want to know what's happening inside? Can I tell you? No, can I tell you? You want to know... I think what he wants to know is, is it justified being loud? Yes. Has the person stubbed their toe? Yes. Or is this person in cardiac arrest? Yes, that's what I mean. Or you decrease the volume. Do you know what I mean? Not everybody is having an emergency the way these ambulances tell us.

37:34That's not possible. Do you regret being mayor yet?

37:42I'm saying. This is your life. You know this is your life. In your book of powers. This is my life anyway. You're going to be having dinner and this guy's coming up. I know too many guys like this anyway. No. Now I'm the mayor. I still know this guy. Because you have these big ideas. That's what I'm saying. In your book, I'm sure you can say that, and most people will agree. Most people will, no, no, no, because we all agree at some point we're going to need an ambulance. Small injury, small siren. Small siren, big injury, big siren. Now, on a reel, though, are those the kinds of things that you actually can do unilaterally, or do you need to, like, is there a board?

38:22On this question? Yeah, I mean it. I know it sounds crazy. I have no idea. Okay, okay. So you don't know what's in the book. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I even know the process by which you would consider trading volume for surveillance. Severity of injury. No, you don't know what's in the book. That's the thing. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. It could be in the book. Thank you for your time, sir. It could be an easy thing. Thank you. As you can see, so Dave definitely lives in New York. and experiences. This is actually what I love about it is like as you're building up in this transition and you're getting ready for these things, how do you find, so you have these three big policies that you've run on.

39:07You've gone rent. We are aiming to freeze the rent especially where we can immediately and then work on helping other people. The second thing you're going with is the buses. They need to be faster. They need to be free. And the third thing you're working on is the? Childcare. And number four is Dave. Number four is Dave. Right. So, I mean you've made it. You've made it. You've made it. You've made it. At this point, it's the only way out. So my question is, when you're in that, is there a system for you as mayor to go, these things are small but annoying and they actually make a difference in people's lives?

39:38Like the sound of sirens, or for instance, how do you find those balances? I think this is, it's not just that government has often said a crisis is too big, we cannot tackle it. It's also that government has said this issue is too small, it's not worth our time. And as much as we laugh, issues of this scale, whether it be the sound of something or the noise of something, these to New Yorkers are examples of a city that's not working for them. Yes, it is actually. Whatever it may be. And you need to be able to prove that your city government takes it seriously. Because wherever you are losing people's faith, losing people's trust, that's also where you're losing their faith and trust in an ambitious agenda.

40:25You know, I was at a town hall with an incoming city council member, his name is Ty, at Rochdale Village in southeast Queens. And an older woman got up and she had a question for me. She said, will you honor a promise that was made to be multiple mayoral administrations ago? And I was like, what is this promise going to be? And she said they promised to put a speed bump at this corner. And it hadn't been done for more than a decade. And I was thinking to myself, how could I ask her to believe in the possibility of delivering universal child care if the same government couldn't even get her a speed bump?

41:06That they had promised. That they had promised more than a decade ago. Because when you betray that promise, you are telling that New Yorker that they should not look to city government as something or someone that could deliver on their needs. And they start to turn away. And then when you ask ourselves, why aren't more people voting? Why aren't more people invested? Why aren't more people engaged? A lot of it is based on experiences like this, where the best that they can hope for from their city government is neglect or ignorance. And we have to win people back through the power of example.

41:36You can't finger wag your way to getting someone invested in the politics of their own city. You have to prove it to them. You have to prove that you were right to believe. And here we are actually delivering it. I don't know if I can prove it to you, Dave. but Can I say although I joined the mob in laughing at you I will say though this is an issue that I fully stand behind Which part of the issue? No no Transparent ambulances or silent ones? I'll tell you why No I'll tell you why It's an idea that I've had that maybe I got from you and this idea has always been this idea has always been there's a disconnect in politics and in the management of cities countries states etc where there are the things that will dramatically change your life that are actual things that you need to happen and then there are things that make you think your life is getting better or getting worse but they aren't actually and it's a strange thing that people have in society you know what i mean some things can make people feel safer some things actually make you safer some things can make you feel like a city's functioning some things actually make it function and it's i'm perception and reality i'm always intrigued around like how a politician manages that when you get into that position how do you manage that perception so sirens is a good one when you live in a city where you constantly hear sirens it seems like something's always going wrong recently when i traveled to london amsterdam all these i was i was shocked at how quiet it was but it took me a while to realize something was like missing and then you're like wait it's quiet and the quiet just makes you feel like where's Dave?

43:16man can I tell you something? can I tell you something? your timing is impeccable this Uganda on Uganda violence I'm here for it I'm here for it all I'm waiting for Zoran to turn and do is look at you and be like why are you Dave? why are you Dave? are you not Dave? okay so help me help me understand why you chose the three the freezing the rent that i mean i hope is self-explanatory to everybody the cost of living is it's unsustainable in new york and in many places in the world if people cannot afford to live then they don't even want to be part of that society the buses help me understand why faster buses and free buses so these are the slowest buses in america okay that's not like what do you mean by that like the speed that they go right We're talking about an average speed in certain parts of Manhattan around five miles an hour.

44:14That's walking fast. You can beat the bus when you walk. Yeah, yeah. And what we see is that more than a million New Yorkers ride the bus. Okay. It costs$2.90. That is out of reach for one in five New Yorkers. Wow. So when you make the bus free, you not only provide economic relief where you ensure that it's universally accessible, you also actually make it safer. We did this at the state legislature. I've been a state assembly member for a few years. Yeah. And I worked with Mike Gianaris, a state senator. We made five bus routes free in New York City. when we made those bus routes free after a year assaults on bus drivers dropped by 38.9 percent on the bus drivers on the bus drivers because unlike the train the act of fare collection on the bus happens on the bus it's their job yeah and bus drivers and and unions have shared anecdotally that about 50 percent of assaults happen around the fare box so when you eliminate the fare box, you make for a safer experience for the bus driver, for everyone on the bus.

45:26And what's fascinating, back to the point you were just making about perception and reality, is when they made a few bus routes free in Boston under Mayor Wu's leadership, they found that even more than the safety that was provided is that people felt safer to even higher degree than that, right? We saw this as well in Kansas City to varying extents in different parts of the country. And it has the economic benefits, has the public safety benefits and even has benefits of bringing people who would otherwise be driving their car or taking a taxi and getting them on the bus. More than 10 % of the new riders on these five bus routes were otherwise going to use private.

46:00So it becomes economically viable for them. And I think what it comes back to is that if you pair the making of the bus free, which then also enables you to use any door to board, you don't have to wait behind anyone who's looking for their MetroCard or used to be looking for their coins. You can just board and exit. you speed up the time at each bus stop. In Boston, you cut the dwell time by 23%. So there's a speed that's incorporated in this. And then the other part of this is that the city owns its own streets. The city can speed up a bus through the infrastructure it chooses to build or not to build.

46:33Bus lanes, busways, bus rapid transit. It's a political choice that that bus is traveling at five miles an hour. You can make that bus be the most obvious way to get around this city. Right now, so often New Yorkers are taking the bus because they have no other option. We want it to be such that it is the option. You choose. So that's what it comes back to. And the other part of this is this is disproportionately hurting working class New Yorkers. Because a bus rider, the average salary of a bus rider is around$30 ,000 a year. We are talking about the most working class New Yorkers who are dealing with some of the most substandard public transit.

47:09And it's a political choice. It feels like New York has, like many cities in the world, fallen into the trap of fixing what needs to be fixed for the wealthy and then sort of ignoring or pushing aside the problems that affect the poor. I mean, I think about when you fly. Yeah. We have made it such a difficult experience to go through TSA that there's now a financial incentive to sign up for a separate program that can move you through it quicker. Yeah. I mean, we have monetized the dysfunction of flying. Do you think that's by design though? I'm going to leave that to you and Dave, man. Yeah, convenience is up for sale.

47:56Absolutely. Convenience has been up for sale for the longest time. But it's absurd to me that you should have to pay for the experience that you should already be getting. You're already paid. Anyway. This is a real question about - I thought you said no more questions. No, no. Oh, on that topic. Oh, on that topic. There's a real question on the buses. How come you didn't go with the people who were paying? Because some people don't mind paying, but they can pay in a way to keep the revenue coming in. And then people who can't pay, then they have a way of like, okay. This is in effect a question about universal approach versus means tested.

48:45means tested would say if you make a certain income or less then you should be eligible for a reduction in your fare or the elimination of your fare there already exists a program in new york city called fair fairs where if you make a certain amount of money or less you'll get a reduced fare the mta by last estimate when they were testifying at the state they said about 40 percent of eligible new yorkers are enrolled the question was asked them what would success look like? They said 50%. So success looks like leaving 50 % of your eligible population out of your program. And so whenever you create a means-tested program, you are comfortable to some level with saying goodbye to people who would be eligible for it because you know the hurdles of creating a bureaucratic system of proving eligibility, of applying, of receiving, and then of using.

49:35Versus if you make something free at point of use, you capture the entirety of everyone you're looking to serve. And this is the difference is that the safety of that bus, the efficacy of how it is moving, the question of the doors, all of this is tied to the elimination of fare at once. And when we made those five bus routes free, we found the most significant increase in riders was among New Yorkers making$28 ,000 a year or less. They're already eligible for fairfares. But less than 20 % of them were enrolled in that program. So that to me is, if you are serious about reaching everyone, then here's how you do it.

50:18You know what it's similar to, funny enough, it's similar to what I feel like they're doing with voting in America. They are systematically making it harder and harder for people to vote. But basing it, like the premise is, no, no, no, it's super easy to vote. all you have to do is, all you have to do is, all you have to do is, all you have to do is, all you have to, you know what I mean? It's like, get this ID. Oh, but this new type of ID needs this type of identification. And then it's like, well, which ones do you accept? Oh, your gun one. Oh, we take the gun one. NRA will work. Oh, but this one doesn't work.

50:53And this one, do you know what I mean? And then to your point, yeah. And more importantly, it's the trick of saying, It's free You're free to enter But then the process of coming in Is not really free Do you know what I mean? It's like the trick of the interns Like to be an intern You've got to be a pretty rich kid I work for free Yeah but do you know how much You have to earn to work for free? And I feel like that's That's what you're tapping into With the child care thing Is that a similar No wait wait wait There's a similar principle Is like With the child care thing What do you think I mean it seems obvious some people would go and we've seen discussions around this you know privatization and said they'd be like oh the private sector should be dealing with this why is the government getting involved in child care shouldn't just you know companies provide child care why do you think it's important for the state to step in for the for the city to step in well look when the city and the state doesn't step in companies have to put forward child care benefits, child care services, why should that be a company's job?

51:54You are seeing companies having to provide a service that should be provided by the city and the state. I mean, quite literally, you have companies that have child care on site. You have companies that are giving annual stipends for paying towards child care. The point of this is that if we do not treat this as the social crisis that it is, we are going to pass this cost on. And this is actually a cost that we should be bearing at a city and a state level. And the average cost of childcare in New York City for one child is$22 ,500. But that's close to what you just said, the average earning was for, I mean, that's insane.

52:31It is cheaper to send that same child 18 years later to the City University of New York than it is to find childcare for them. That's how expensive it is. And we often talk about delivering universal childcare in the language of how much it will cost and how difficult it will be. as if it doesn't already cost this city and state an immense amount today. In 2022, we lost$23 billion in economic activity because of the absence of universal childcare. Explain how. Because you had people leaving this city, leaving this state. After housing, the number one thing driving people out of this city, childcare.

53:08They're going anywhere they can find childcare for cheaper. And it's not just people whose kids they can't get childcare for. It's also childcare workers who cannot live off of the average salary at a home-based setting of$10 an hour. People cannot live off of that. And we keep asking ourselves, why is it so hard to raise a family in this city? It's like, look at the cost. I was sitting on the M57, the slowest bus in Manhattan, a few months ago. And a city worker was seated behind me. She started speaking to me about how she had two kids. the only reason she could make it work here was because her 84-year-old grandmother would take care of those kids every single day.

53:48And she told me that when her 84-year-old grandmother has to go to the doctor or she feels sick, the only option this mother has is that she has to take a sick day from work because she can't afford childcare. We are pushing people out of this city. And frankly, people are feeling it when they're making 40K a year. They're feeling it when they're making 100K. They're feeling it 200K because$22 ,500 is an immense amount of money after tax. and we could be providing this. There's a real question, real question. We're going to run out of time. Choose your last question well. Based on child care, what is this going to look like practically?

54:23Do you know what I mean? What does it mean? Zoran's going to come look after your child. No, man, come on. You see, you are now wasting my time. There's never a waste of time when a joke is in... Can we all agree? Never. Thank you, Eugene. Jokes are never a waste of time. In fact, never. Do you know, what does it look like practically? You will see a system that is building on the infrastructure we already have. And what that means is it's going to be something built out that includes both center-based care and home-based care. There are many New Yorkers who feel more comfortable sending their child to a neighbor who is providing childcare for a few children on that block.

55:06There are other New Yorkers who prefer sending their child to a child care center. And we can look at universal pre-K, which we were talking about earlier, as a model for both how it took an immense cost burden off of the backs of working families, but also how it stood up an entire infrastructure. because this is the thing that's also missing in so much of city government is a sense of urgency, of actually being able to scale something up. And that to me, the commitment we've made, delivering childcare for New Yorkers from ages five down to six weeks of age. And so what we have right now is we have universal pre-K.

55:40We have 3K in New York City, but it is broken. The first order of business is to fix 3K. And then we look at 2K, we look at 1K, we look at delivering childcare for children right now, that if their parents don't have the money or they don't have a family member, we see that those parents often leave. I mean, 80 % of New Yorkers with children under five cannot afford childcare in the city. 80%. 80%.

56:07I find myself wondering about labels a lot and how they limit our ability to think. Because your name, synonymous, socialist, and then people are trying to be disparaging communist and but you see a lot oh this social he's trying to turn america into this guy doesn't like and yet every time i hear you speak you talk about how much money the thing will generate for businesses for people themselves for do you do when you think of how people process the label of socialism or the idea behind it do you think they themselves have an understanding of what it actually means versus what they've been told it means.

56:48Do you get what I'm saying? Yeah, I think as a Muslim socialist, I'm familiar with bad PR. Good old MS. Those damn MSs. It's a long journey to explain. But I think many people have caricatures in their head as to what it means. I often turn to Dr. King to describe socialism. He said, call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country. It comes back to dignity. It comes back to ensuring that whatever you need to live a dignified life, that you have that. You should not be priced out of a necessity. We're not talking about want or like.

57:31We're talking about need. You should not be priced out of being able to have a home to call your own, of being able to send your kid to school, being able to ride the bus. And I've found actually that when you're speaking to New Yorkers one-to-one, they've actually had far fewer questions of how I describe my politics and far more of, does my politics include them? Are their struggles part of my focus? And I've found that there are many people who might describe themselves in a different way, but when I speak about what this would mean for New York City, they start to see themselves in that vision.

58:05And that's, I think, the key of this is, how is this a politics that actually reflects the struggles of working people? Do you think your politics and your campaign connected with people because you actually connected with people? I think a lot of it also had to do with the incredible team I had around me. Yeah. To be honest, someone was asking me the other day about people trying to make videos the way that we made videos. And I was saying that part of it is it misunderstands that it's not as much who's in front of the camera. It's also who's behind the camera. You can see a distinct moment in the campaign when I stopped making the videos.

58:39it's the moment when the campaign became legitimate right right and I think that that losing sight of the collective and thinking it's all about the individual it means you lose sight of how this campaign was built alright your team is telling us we gotta wrap up do you promise didn't even talk about Mzanzi that's what I'm saying do you promise to come back give me one that's the only promise I want Dave wants ambulances I promise to come back you promise to come back you don't have to by the way you can say no and then I don't look Then I don't have the promise This is my only way No no no Then I don't have the promise I don't mind I give you the promise Alright Because I I'll take three minutes And then I'll let you go Here's a few things I wanted to talk about Yeah go I want to talk about Cape Town Yeah They really have to go Like right now Your team is like What did you want to talk about Cape Town Cape Town And Kasper New Vest Open the door and come get him Kasper New Vest I wanted to talk about Cuesta Wow this guy's deep in This guy's deep in South African I want to talk about Ricky Rick This guy Rest in peace to Ricky Rick man boss Zonke yeah I love that song you know what we do and I want to figure out how we can get major league DJs on Spotify you know what we're gonna do because I have listened to Sly Zasotzi on YouTube this guy we're gonna do a trilogy this was just the policy stuff yeah part two we're gonna do Zoran's life stuff also we're having the elections of Mayor of Joburg next year part three just South Africa if you're available thank you thank you thanks for thanks for taking him It would be so funny If you just got like A dinner reservation That would be so blazing I wish No no no I'm just saying It would be funny Anything for a joke I don't care If you take him If this ends in a joke If Zoran's like I gotta go I gotta go And then he gets in Like for two Table for two please And then he gets in Me and Shabalala Yo man Zoran Mamdani Thank you very much Take your man away To be continued We've never ended A podcast like that No we've never To be continued Part one

1:00:39This episode is presented by Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market has everything you need for the holidays, whether you're a guest or hosting the big dinner. Whole Foods Market has convenience and cost-friendly finds that'll delight everyone at your table, plus great gift ideas, all of which follow the Whole Foods Market's strict ingredient standards. Shop for everything you need at Whole Foods Market, your holiday headquarters.

1:01:08What Now with Trevor Noah is produced by DayZero Productions in partnership with SiriusXM. The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin, and Jess Hackle. Rebecca Chain is our producer. Our development researcher is Marcia Robiu. Music, mixing, and mastering by Hannes Brown. Random Other Stuff by Ryan Parduth. Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for another episode of What Now?

1:02:02We'll see you next time. whichever comes first. Subject to change or cancellation, revocable due to fraud, if not an eligible student. Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to each other? Introducing Odoo, the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one, fully integrated platform that makes your work easier. From CRM, accounting, inventory, e-commerce, and more. And the best part, Odoo replaces multiple expensive platforms for a fraction of the cost. That's why over thousands of businesses have made the switch. So why not you?

1:02:33Try Odoo for free at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com.