{"id":49229,"date":"2026-04-08T14:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/mamdani-says-there-will-be-no-free-buses-this-year\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:20:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:20:44","slug":"mamdani-says-there-will-be-no-free-buses-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/mamdani-says-there-will-be-no-free-buses-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani says there will be no free buses this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke by phone with POLITICO for an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, where he asked his followers to dial back personal attacks on Council Speaker Julie Menin, acknowledged that his plan for faster and free buses isn’t going to get done that quickly, and accused him of threatening genocide over his relationship with President Donald Trump as commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n

City & State said your law department – not Eric Adams – <\/b>Remove references to DEI<\/b>","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https:\/\/www.cityandstateny.com\/policy\/2026\/04\/city-hall-cut-references-dei-nyc-racial-equity-plan\/412665\/","_Identification": :"0000019d-6d6b-da2b-a79d-efefffd50000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-6d6b-da2b-a79d-efefffd50001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Cut down on DEI references<\/b><\/a> in its long-awaited racial equity plan in an apparent effort to avoid challenges from the Trump administration. is that true? Do you stand by that decision?<\/b><\/p>\n

We inherited a weak report that was blocked from being released by the prior administration, and we took time over the last few months to strengthen that report, to make sure it was a more accurate reflection of the scale of the crisis that New Yorkers were facing in the five boroughs, and then released it as an initial report to New Yorkers. What we’ve done now is launch a 30-day public comment period where we’ll solicit feedback from New Yorkers, then publish a final report, which we expect to release sometime in mid-July. It’s a report that, in its early findings, shows stark racial disparities in the city.<\/p>\n

Who do you prefer for President in 2028? Do you think Kamala Harris should run for re-election?<\/b><\/p>\n

(laughing) <\/i>I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t thought much about 2028. I’m thinking about 2026 and I’m thinking about how we can deliver results for New Yorkers. But let me tell you that I did not expect that question.<\/p>\n

I have seen your supporters <\/b>Council President Julie Menin<\/b>attack on","_Identification": :"0000019d-6a27-d065-a7bf-6e3fa34b0000","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Attack on council president Julie Menin<\/b><\/a> To become a millionaire during this budget fight. Do you think it’s appropriate to go after him personally for his property?<\/b><\/p>\n

I believe that criticisms should always return to the essence of any debate. The debate we are having now is about a substantive disagreement on the Speaker’s proposed plan. The criticisms I shared were around that plan. I believe the criticism should remain here.<\/p>\n

People are saying that Trump is telling “the entire civilization” to “die tonight”, whether he is showing support for genocide or threatening genocide. I’m wondering, do you consider how warm and friendly you keep your relationship with him?<\/b><\/p>\n

I have been very clear about my deep opposition to this war in Iran, and opposition not only on the basis of proceduralism or politics, but also on the basis of morality, and any threat to kill an entire civilization should be opposed by all of us. This is a war that has killed thousands of civilians, and it is a war that is taking place amid a massive cost-of-living crisis in the city and across the country, where we are constantly told that we don’t have enough money to provide for what working-class people need. … At the heart of any war is dehumanization, and we know that dehumanization will not be limited to a battlefield. This will extend to the world we live in.<\/p>\n

In Albany, no one has included a free bus plan in their budget proposals, and it doesn’t seem like it’s something your administration is working hard on this year. Have you already acknowledged that this might be something you move forward into 2027 rather than 2026?<\/b><\/p>\n

Both legislative chambers included language in their one-house budget resolutions in support of bringing back the free-bus pilot program. This is something that we are encouraged by and continues to be part of the budget talks. I am fully committed to making buses faster and free, and we are encouraged by the conversations we are having with the Governor and legislative leaders to take action on this in 2026 as a first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke by phone with POLITICO for an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, where he asked his followers to dial back personal attacks on Council Speaker Julie Menin, acknowledged that his plan for faster and free buses isn’t going to get done that quickly, and accused him of threatening genocide over his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[18057,303,7843,218],"class_list":["post-49229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-verse","tag-buses","tag-free","tag-mamdani","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49233,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49229\/revisions\/49233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}