New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash online after admitting that his campaign pledge to make city buses free is hitting funding roadblocks.
Conservatives were quick to react to a Politico interview where the mayor acknowledged that one of his most hotly discussed campaign promises wouldn’t happen this year as his administration works to gain support from lawmakers in Albany.
“It won’t ever happen. It was a high-profile promise that won’t ever happen. It wasn’t really meant to,” wrote conservative media host Jason Rantz on X.
“Turns out socialist slogans don’t survive contact with reality,” National Republican Congressional Committee Press Secretary Mike Marinella posted on X.
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“Hahahahahahahahahaha. You got played, NYC,” wrote Amy Curtis, a conservative writer, on X.
“Mamdani lied about free buses — and basically everything else in his campaign,” wrote Tim Young, a media fellow at The Heritage Foundation, on X. “And the idiots of New York fell for it,” he added.
“Socialism is like a toxic ex: big promises upfront, disappointment later,” conservative media outlet Prager U posted on X. “Just ask New York about those free buses.”
Others, however, defended the effort, pointing to the complexities of funding major transit changes and praising the administration for continuing negotiations.
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Mamdani’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the mayor remains committed to the plan, adding that his administration is working with state officials to make fare-free buses a reality before the end of his term.
“Mayor Mamdani is committed to delivering fast and free buses by the time he leaves office, full stop,” a spokesperson said, noting ongoing discussions with N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.
“In the meantime, the Mamdani administration will continue to work with our partners at the state and local level to make commutes faster and our transit system more affordable for all New Yorkers.”
Mamdani never explicitly pledged to fulfill the campaign platform in the first year but said he intended to accomplish the goal by the end of his first four-year term.
“Making buses fast and free, the fast thing we’re already getting started on,” Mamdani said in January. “And what I’ve said is that by the time I’m finished being mayor, they’re going to be free. What we have to deliver, however, in this very year, required by law, but also required just by being a good mayor, a balanced budget for this fiscal year [and for] the next fiscal year.”
As an assembly member, Mamdani launched a free bus pilot program in Queens that he has touted as highly successful citing increased ridership by more than 30% and showing a nearly 40% drop in assaults on bus operators.
Still, Mamdani’s critics argue that the cost of free busses is fiscally risky and logistically flawed for the behemoth New York City system and warn it would likely to degrade the very service it aims to improve.
The debate comes as Mamdani advances a broader affordability agenda built on campaign promises such as city-owned grocery stores and rent freezes, proposals that have rattled Wall Street and drawn sharp criticism.
The clash underscores a widening divide between progressive ambitions for the city and the financial sector that has long powered its economy.
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