It could be a case of deja zoo.
Zohran Mamdani could potentially echo former left-leaning Mayor John Lindsay’s legacy if he were to be elected to City Hall. Lindsay was a controversial figure known for his tax-and-spend policies during the 1960s-1970s, which many blame for the fiscal crisis that nearly led the city to bankruptcy.
Historians and experienced political analysts highlight the parallels between Mamdani and Lindsay: both are charismatic figures who galvanized youth support and pursued liberal agendas, advocating for expansive government involvement.
It was Lindsay who proposed and got Albany to approve New York City’s first income tax that Mamdani wants to raise on the wealthy.
“They both inspired young people. They both tapped into the idea that the city is in trouble and big change is needed,” said Vincent Cannato, author of “The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York.”
“Both Mamdani and Lindsay are complete outsiders,” he said.
Cannato noted that former Mayor Bill de Blasio was somewhat of a “red diaper baby” who, despite this background, operated within the Democratic Party establishment, including roles with Hillary Clinton and in Bill Clinton’s administration.
By comparison, Mamdani is a “radical” outsider as democratic socialist, Cannato said.
He did say that Mamdani is to the left of Lindsay, a congressman who served in the Navy during World II.
Lindsay was a “Kennedyesque” patrician, Citizen Union-type Republican outsider running against the Democratic machine.
He would be an oxymoron today — a liberal Republican in line with President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs.
Lindsay was one of the prominent figures opposing the Vietnam War. His stance turned him against Republicans, leading to a loss in his party primary. He then won re-election in 1969 on the Liberal Party ticket but eventually shifted to the Democratic Party, where his bid for the presidency failed.
Lindsay was an advocate for civil rights and was attentive to issues of police brutality against minorities in a predominantly white city. His push for a civilian complaint review board led to disdain from police unions.
Sound familiar? Mamdani advocated defunding the police, though he backed away from that mantra as the Democratic nominee for mayor.
Both campaigned against inequality.
Both came from wealthy families — Lindsay’s father was an investment banker and Mamdani’s mom is a fil director and his dad a Columbia U. professor.
Both Lindsay and Mamdani can be moralistic and naive, observers.
“It is a fair comparison,” said Joseph Viteritti, a Hunter College public affairs professor who edited the book “Summer in The City: John Lindsay, New York and the American Dream” and who was a volunteer in Lindsay’s administration.
“There was a naivete to Lindsay. It was naivete and principle. It was a combination of both,” he said.
Critics say the same of Mamdani, claiming some of his proposals are impractical — including major tax hikes on the wealthy and businesses to fund fare-free buses, child care and housing.
Viteritti credited Lindsay with walking through black neighborhoods to defuse tensions after the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“History has not been kind to Lindsay. He has justifiably taken his share of blame for the discrepancy between revenues and expenditures that led to the 1975 fiscal crisis and the gimmicks that went along with it as well,” he said in a preface to his book.
Strict state fiscal oversight through the Financial Control Board and more stringent accounting practices imposed on the city to prevent another fiscal calamity.
And Mamdani or any other candidate who wins the mayoralty will face constraints that Lindsay did not, including a federal government with hardline stances on spending and a governor, Kathy Hochul, who is running for re-election next year and opposing Mamdani’s tax hikes.
Mamdani’s tax hikes would need approval from Hochul and the state, which is considered a long shot particularly during an election year.
“Lindsay wasn’t from the Tammany Hall,” said former city Comptroller and Brooklyn Congresswoman Liz Holtzman, who worked in the Lindsay’s City Hall as a 26-year-old lawyer.
“Young people have a lot of idealism and want to see the world a better place. They identified with Lindsay,” Holtzman said.
“Mamdani has the same kind of attraction from young people.”
