Zoharan Mamdani, who was yearning for the release of Sharjeel Imam and who raised the flag of ‘Democratic Socialist’ ideology, known for his anti-India statements, has got a big shock as soon as he sat on the chair of the Mayor of New York. Mamdani, who claimed to be the ‘messiah of tenants’ in election rallies, has failed miserably in his first major legal test. According to Fox News report, the Federal Court has rejected his attempt to interfere in the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized properties in New York. Mamdani had tried to stop the deal on the pretext of outstanding fine of Rs 100 crore, but the judge declared his lucrative scheme legally zero and cleared the way for the sale. After this crushing defeat, questions are being raised that how will Mamdani run the administration of a city like New York only on the basis of ideological fanaticism and controversial advisors?

What was Zoharan’s argument?
Indian-origin New York Mayor Zoharan Mamdani had argued that Pinnacle Group, the company selling the properties, owed the city a fine of $12 million (about Rs 100 crore), so the deal should be stopped. However, Bankruptcy Judge David Jones considered this argument legally insufficient and cleared the way for the sale. This defeat is not only a legal setback for Mamdani but is also a blow to his reputation. Mamdani’s team claimed that they wanted to provide justice to the tenants who were troubled by the poor maintenance of the previous owners. But the court did not allow the administration to intervene as a ‘creditor’.

Home ownership linked to racial discrimination
Immediately after this decision, the controversy regarding Mayor’s Housing Advisor Siya Weaver has also deepened. Weaver’s past statements have already brought much disrepute to the Mamdani administration. He linked home ownership to ‘racial discrimination’. This setback by the court has proved that political will alone is not enough in the face of New York’s strict real estate laws.

There is a difference between running an administration and activism
This failure of Zoharan Mamdani shows that running an administration and doing activism are two different things. Leaders who spend energy interfering in India’s internal affairs and supporting faces like Sharjeel Imam often fail on their local administrative front. Mamdani tried to view the New York property market through a ‘socialist lens’, but he forgot that American law strongly protects private property rights.