As always, the contents of this blog are a compendium of multipal media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.
There’s nothing as reliable as empirical evidence. One can debate, forecast and hypothesize endlessly regarding an issue or the effectiveness of a policy, but observing it in action always tells the tale. And so it is with respect to comrade Zoh’s outlandish campaign promises, for example, his attitude towards Israel and the Jews,and his goal to redistribute wealth, which is a classic principle of communism. Below please find a sample:
1. Buses “fast and free” – has not been implemented. Cost to date, in excess of $1billion.
2. Boasted he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu if and when he came to NYC. He has characterized him as a war criminal. He has accused him of starving children, bombing hospitals, and various other human rights violations. Yet, he has ignored Hamas’ horrific attack of Israel on 10/7 and numerous other heinous crimes. (Later, he admitted that he doesn’t have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu.) Either he had been playing to his anti-Israel, antisemitic base for votes, he was ignorant of the law regarding visiting diplomats or a combination of the two. You decide. In any event, the result was to foment a climate of hate towards Israel and Jews. He continually condones verbal abuse and physical crimes against Jews, which, as I have blogged recently, have increased sharply in NYC (as well as all over the world). For example, he urged people to ”take to the streets streets” to protest Netanyahu’s visit. What did he think would happen?
3. Raise money to fund his lavish programs by raising taxes on corporations and imposing a 2% surcharge on personal income taxes of “affluent” NYC residents. Predictably, this has driven corporations (and their taxpaying employees) and the wealthy to flee NYC for business and tax “fiendlier” locales such as Florida and Texas. Incidentally, there is no definition of “affluent.” Many people who don’t consider themselves to be affluent might be suprised to find out that they fit into that category. To date, Governor Hochul has blocked these policies, however, after the midterms I believe she will “reassess” her position.
4 He has advocated opening five city-owned grocery stores, which he says will provide cheaper prices. This is classic Marxism. If true, small neighborhood grocery stores will not be able to compete and will be driven out of business. Comrade Zoh knows this, but he doesn’t seem to care. Five have been promised; as yet, none have been built, although locations of two have been disclosed. The first one is not projected to open until 2027. I don’t believe that is a realistic date, and neither should you. The estimated cost of the five stores is $70 million. In my view the opening will be delayed for years, if it ever happens, and the cost will be substantially higher. Moreover, these stores will not be full service. They will not offer meat nor hot food, and not all products will be discounted. There is much we don’t know. Remember, the devil is always in the details, but we know from experience in Russia, Cuba and other communist counties that the concept does not work.
5. Free universal child care for children as young as six weeks old. As I write this the administration has commenced a four-year rollout for two year-olds and older. No one knows what the cost will be and how it will be funded, although we can all guess.
6. Replace the role of the NYPD on 911 calls. Not implemented yet (thankfully). Does anyone really believe this would work?
7. Freeze rents. Landlords have sued. This policy needs further study. I believe that there would be various negative unintended consequences if this policy were to be inacted
CONCLUSION
In previous blogs I have described the DSA’s neo-communist policies. Perhaps, not all of the candidates espouse all of them, but they are tied to them nonetheless. Also, they all have made it very clear that the central themes that unite them all are anti-Israel, antisemitism and hatred of all things Trump.
In addition, by his words and deeds it is apparent that Comrade Zoh has declared war on individual wealth. As I described above, his policies demonstrate his intent on punishing the wealthy for their success by redistributing it. The irony is that his family has considerable wealth, and he grew up in privilege. That is classic communist doctrine. Redistribute the wealth of others but not mine.
In summary, what has Comrade Zoh accomplished in his eight months in office? In my view, not much. Certainly nothing that would benefit the city. I would venture to say that some of those who voted for him are disillusioned and would like a redo. Sorry, you voted for him, and you’re stuck with him for the next three plus years.
Mazel Tov!
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 