NEW YORK—Zohran Mamdani was met with applause when he name-checked “Yemeni bodega owners” during his acceptance speech Tuesday evening.
But while Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, may consider the owners of the city’s trademark delis as part of his multi-ethnic, working-class coalition, the owners themselves are less than thrilled with the socialist their neighbors elected.
“That’s not a good thing,” one shop owner told The Daily Wire this week when asked about Mamdani’s pledge to open state-run grocery stores. “I’m not with it.” The owner also expressed frustration that he would have to pay property taxes and rent while government-operated stores would not.
He was hardly the only business owner to criticize Mamdani’s policies.
NYC small business owners react to Zohran Mamdani:
“We’re cooked.” @StollBrecca pic.twitter.com/oOYyKu2y6D
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 6, 2025
“What the sad part is, it’s the people in the city who made these decisions. New York is already messed up,” a liquor store owner said. “They had a choice between Cuomo and this knucklehead and they chose the knucklehead, so we are going to pay for it.”
He added that younger voters “don’t know what democracy is or how the legislative process works.” He compared the state of the city to “kids running the school.”
Many of Mamdani’s policies are controversial, but one in particular struck a chord with small business owners: “$30 by 30,” a plan to nearly double the city’s minimum wage from $16.50 to $30 per hour by 2030. Currently, the city raises the minimum wage by $0.50 a year. Under Mamdani’s plan it would jump by about $3.50 annually.
“Think of how many places, family owned, that will have difficulty making payroll,” said a flower shop owner. “Overnight half of the mom-and-pop shops will go out of business.”
He believes Mamdani’s policies will take New York in the wrong direction: “We are on the way to becoming a communist state.”
Another shop owner added that the wage hikes will inevitably force prices to rise.“A $30 minimum wage will result in the product going up,” he said.
“As someone who has built a company here for over twenty years, I’ve never been more concerned,” says William Stern, CEO and Founder of Cardiff. Stern’s company provides capital loans to small businesses. “You can’t declare war on the capital and expect the city to survive. It’s economic suicide.”
Stern believes New Yorkers have voted for a “dangerous experiment” where the people, small business owners, and working families will pay the price. He urges New Yorkers to see that Mamdani’s selling a socialist fantasy to people who are struggling. “He’s playing revolutionary with other people’s lives and livelihoods.”
Mamdani’s affordability pledges also include making city buses free. The Daily Wire asked New York City bus drivers about the plan. One said “free buses do not work well in New York City.” Currently the $2.90 bus fares make up about 40% of MTA’s revenue. Mamdani also wants to freeze rent for stabilized apartments, but business owners warn that could make it harder for landlords to afford repairs and upkeep.
Are free buses a good idea for New York?
Bus driver: “No.” pic.twitter.com/zAY6FIncHj
— Brecca Stoll (@StollBrecca) November 4, 2025
One business owner did not hold back when asked how Mamdani’s policies might affect the city.
“We’ll go to hell, it will be over. The city’s in trouble, we’re going back to the ’70s.”
The 1970s were a grim chapter in New York’s history marked by mass exodus, high crime rates, and a major fiscal crisis.
One flower shop owner who has owned his shop since the 70s, reflected on his favorite mayor: Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, widely credited for restoring economic order, cracking down on crime, and managing the city through 9/11, is praised for the changes he brought to New York City.
Many Mamdani voters told The Daily Wire they were “excited for change.” His all-female transition team reportedly includes former officials from Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Joe Biden’s administrations.
