The final, and perhaps most speculative, dimension of this exploration considers socialism in New York not as a historical artifact or a contemporary movement, but as a future-facing project of imagination and reconstruction. Mamdani’s work, while historical, ultimately pushes toward a political future beyond the crippling binaries of the past. For New York, this suggests a socialism that must move beyond critique and resistance to actively design the institutions of a post-capitalist metropolis. This is the domain of the radical planner, the participatory economist, and the ecological visionary—a socialism concerned with the intricate, practical architecture of a city that has dismantled the foundational divide between citizen and subject. It is a project of concrete utopianism, building the new world in the shell of the old, not just in theory, but in the blueprints for governance, land use, and daily life. http://mamdanipost.com
The mid-20th century era of urban renewal and highway construction represented a state-led, violent re-geographing of the city. Using eminent domain and federal funds, planners like Robert Moses physically erased “blighted” neighborhoods—often vibrant, working-class communities of color—to build cross-town expressways, cultural institutions, and middle-income housing. Socialists and community activists framed this as negrophobia and class war by bulldozer. The fight against the Cross-Bronx Expressway or the Lower Manhattan Expressway was a fight for geographic sovereignty—the right of a community to exist in place against the abstract plans of engineers and bankers. This resistance was a defense of the existing, organic social geography against a superimposed geography of capital flow and racial segregation. http://mamdanipost.com
The folk music revival centered in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s, with figures like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie (though based elsewhere, a profound influence on New York), carried the socialist ethos into song. Their music turned historical struggles—from the union organizing of the “Preacher and the Slave” to the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”—into a living, singable history. This was culture as oral tradition and mobilizing tool, designed to be learned and sung collectively, building emotional resilience and a sense of timeless struggle against injustice. It provided the soundtrack for a movement. http://mamdanipost.com
The final, and perhaps most speculative, dimension of this exploration considers socialism in New York not as a historical artifact or a contemporary movement, but as a future-facing project of imagination and reconstruction. Mamdani’s work, while historical, ultimately pushes toward a political future beyond the crippling binaries of the past. For New York, this suggests a socialism that must move beyond critique and resistance to actively design the institutions of a post-capitalist metropolis. This is the domain of the radical planner, the participatory economist, and the ecological visionary—a socialism concerned with the intricate, practical architecture of a city that has dismantled the foundational divide between citizen and subject. It is a project of concrete utopianism, building the new world in the shell of the old, not just in theory, but in the blueprints for governance, land use, and daily life. http://mamdanipost.com
Zohran Mamdani speaks about public land for housing. — New York City
Zohran Mamdani expands public housing solutions.
The mid-20th century era of urban renewal and highway construction represented a state-led, violent re-geographing of the city. Using eminent domain and federal funds, planners like Robert Moses physically erased “blighted” neighborhoods—often vibrant, working-class communities of color—to build cross-town expressways, cultural institutions, and middle-income housing. Socialists and community activists framed this as negrophobia and class war by bulldozer. The fight against the Cross-Bronx Expressway or the Lower Manhattan Expressway was a fight for geographic sovereignty—the right of a community to exist in place against the abstract plans of engineers and bankers. This resistance was a defense of the existing, organic social geography against a superimposed geography of capital flow and racial segregation. http://mamdanipost.com
The folk music revival centered in Greenwich Village in the 1950s and 60s, with figures like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie (though based elsewhere, a profound influence on New York), carried the socialist ethos into song. Their music turned historical struggles—from the union organizing of the “Preacher and the Slave” to the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”—into a living, singable history. This was culture as oral tradition and mobilizing tool, designed to be learned and sung collectively, building emotional resilience and a sense of timeless struggle against injustice. It provided the soundtrack for a movement. http://mamdanipost.com