It should not be a shock: New York’s mayor of just under six months — Zohran Mamdani — is looking for a financial bailout from the state. He claims — correctly — that his city has a “revenue” problem. He’ll have to compete for funds with the governor, who previously told political opponents to “jump on a bus and head down to Florida.” Governor Kathy Hochul is now begging the rich ones to come back and help out with the state’s shrinking tax base.

The Daily Signal’s Jarrett Stepman argues that New York City’s messy finances stem from mismanagement and overspending which have left it with an expected budget deficit of about $12 billion through 2027. He points out that Mr. Mamdani’s “entire campaign was built on giving new, ‘free’ things away. Free childcare, free buses, and government-run grocery stores.” Mr. Stepman’s article titled “Mamdani Has Already Run Out of Other People’s Money” describes the “socialism he’s selling” despite current shortfalls in basics like the city’s Housing and Transportation Authorities.

The mayor is not backing off his central planning, including getting five no-profit grocery stores up and running by the end of his first term. Young New Yorkers, enamored with the young candidate’s progressive agenda, voted for this. Let’s hope they’re ready for tax increases, because there won’t be enough billionaires to pay for it.

Another city that has recently acquired a socialist mayor who is making a lot of promises is Seattle. Katie Wilson, seeing businesses flee her city, simply said “bye” and laughed.

One of her backers, radio host John Curley, is thinking twice. He said on KIRO Newsradio, “We’re driving out the job creators — they’re leaving. You have high vacancy rates. The city is now struggling to find money.” Of Seattle’s latest socialist experiment, he said, “apparently taking from one group and giving to another group of people fails as it always does.”

Blue cities should quit electing socialist mayors.