The mythology of New York City is dead. The idea of a thriving metropolis of boundless energy and opportunity is a fantasy. The city has been in a malaise for years, powered by a 24/7 party scene of clubs and consumption, not actual progress. Now, it faces a figure who represents the logical conclusion of this decline. Zohran Mamdani’s political platform is not a plan to fix a struggling city; it is a program of economic suicide designed to pull the plug.
His proposal to force a $30 minimum wage on the city is a theatrical gesture that will trigger a wave of bankruptcies, not prosperity. To fund this and other schemes, he points to NYC’s AI sector as a cash cow ready for slaughter.
Let’s be real about this so-called NYC AI sector. It’s bullshit. It is overwhelmingly composed of:
- Bloated Consulting Firms: Companies like PwC are not core AI developers; they are middlemen who will be the first to be cut in a real economy.
- Gimmicky “Feature-AI” Companies: Firms like Grammarly and Rokt are not foundational. They build features on top of existing innovation and will be rendered obsolete by the next technological leap.
- Cash-Burning Startups: The rest are overwhelmingly small-time ventures with no viable business models, destined to go up in flames the second venture capital dries up.