CNN host Fareed Zakaria criticized the leadership in New York and Los Angeles for making grand promises without delivering on affordability. During his show, Fareed Zakaria GPS, he expressed concerns over the governance in these Democratic strongholds.
Zakaria highlighted what he sees as a lack of control in these major cities, beginning with an example from New York City. He referenced a recent proposal by City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to increase property taxes by 9.5 percent, which Zakaria argued is emblematic of the issues facing Democratic-led cities.
“New York stands as a clear example of a challenge that Democrats appear hesitant to tackle. These blue cities are spiraling, offering more, spending excessively, yet delivering less. They are deferring fiscal responsibilities to the future,” Zakaria stated.
He also pointed his attention towards Los Angeles, describing it as another city dominated by one political party and struggling with problems of affordability and disorder.
In Los Angeles, under the leadership of Mayor Karen Bass, nearly $950 million was allocated this fiscal year towards addressing homelessness, Zakaria noted, emphasizing the scale of spending in the city.
The city spent $950 million this fiscal year for its homelessness budget under Mayor Karen Bass, the anchor pointed out.
Such sums have become standard each year, he said, before reading out a series of statistics.
‘The LA Homelessness services authority reported in 2023, homelessness was up 9 percent countywide and 10 percent in the city, and a 2024 AP account noted homelessness has surged 70 percent countywide since 2015, and 80 percent in the city.
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria – the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS – accused blue cities of being ‘out of control’ on Sunday’s show during an impassioned monologue about affordability
Zakaria said that spending in cities like Los Angeles has failed to address homelessness
‘All this amid public frustration, despite billions spent,’ Zakaria fumed.
‘An audit reviewed 2.4 billion in city homelessness funding and found that officials could not reliably track where it went or what it achieved.’
He then honed in on Chicago, another city ‘with a mayor [Democrat Brandon Johnson] whose approval rating is deep underwater, where the pension promises are so large that they will surely bankrupt the city at some point,’ Zakaria said.
‘What is the theory of good government here? If the answer is keep adding programs, the city will keep producing unaffordability because unaffordability is what happens when government becomes a machine that grows faster than the society it governs.’
‘Focus on affordability, especially housing, but not by providing government subsidies.
‘These only seem to have driven up the cost of rent as subsidies naturally do,’ he added of cities like New York.
Rental assistance subsidies have spiked fivefold since 2020 in the Big Apple, from $263 million to $1.34 billion in 2025.
CNN flashed a graphic showing that increase as Zakaria spoke.
The same holds true for cities like New York, according to Zakaria, who said politicians are dumping money into programs instead of making the streets safe
‘For Democrats in city halls, there is a choice,’ Zakaria said.
The host told such politicians to ‘stop governing as if the goal is to announce new entitlements, and instead make government work.’
‘Safer streets, functioning schools, predictable sanitation, and, above all, enough housing that the middle class can find places to live,’ he listed
‘New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric. It needs more homes.’
Days earlier, Mayor Mamdani told residents that the dire budget crisis could be solved in only two ways: a property tax hike or a rate increase for the wealthiest New Yorkers.
The mayor does not have the authority to raise property taxes without the city council’s approval. Council Speaker Julie Menin said last week such a move was off-limits.
Governor Kathy Hochul similarly shut down Mayor Mamdani’s proposed 2 percent hike on New Yorkers making more than $1 million annually.
The state of New York’s income tax, meanwhile, is 10.9 percent for those making more than $25 million, the third-highest in the nation, behind California and Hawaii.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week said he was considering a 9.5 percent property tax hike on residents to help dig the city out of a budget crisis
‘New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric. It needs more homes,’ Zakaria said. Rental assistance subsidies spike fivefold since 2020 in the Big Apple, from $263 million to $1.34 billion in 2025
The combined rate for the highest earners in the city – 14.8 percent – tops the nation, with California a close second, at 13 percent.
New York City residents making more than $90,000 already pay an additional 3.876 percent on top of the state rate.
In contrast, California property tax rates are moderate to low, unlike its high income tax.
