In his victory speech, Zohran Mamdani vowed to put forward “the most ambitious agenda” New York City had seen since the administration of Fiorello La Guardia, whom he’s unhesitatingly named its greatest mayor. Fans and pundits have frequently wrapped Mamdani in La Guardia’s mythic mantle: La Guardia too was a courageous maverick bent on delivering an honest government devoted to the welfare of the people and a man determined to provide New Yorkers with affordable housing, clean streets, and reliable public transportation.
His accomplishments during his three terms as mayor were legion. Speaking out against cronyism and political hacks, La Guardia appointed highly competent, seasoned commissioners, from both parties, to an utterly bipartisan government. Under his watch fourteen new health centers and nine new child health stations opened, fourteen new piers and two sewage disposal centers were built, the city charter was revamped, the subway system consolidated, and, with the assistance of the New Deal, a huge public works initiative boldly launched, which included hundreds of new parks and playgrounds and more than a dozen swimming pools, hospitals, and schools, plus a public high school for music and art, a new center for the performing arts, and two municipal airports. As a crusader for housing reform, he also established the New York City Housing Authority to provide sanitary, well-ventilated, and modern living spaces for lower- and middle-income families.
“To the victor belongs the responsibility of good government,” La Guardia liked to say. He meant it. So does Zohran Mamdani, whose campaign promises—from universal childcare to safer streets to accessible transit—all provide an optimism that shines through these darkening times. For like La Guardia—a tireless campaigner—Mamdani has been able to incarnate the wishes and dreams of the city’s polyglot citizenry and give voice to its desire for a livable place where all are welcome, respected, and where opportunity exists for each and all.
But in less exalted language, let’s face it: many of the comparisons between Mamdani and La Guardia seem naive or overblown or at least premature. La Guardia had, for one thing, a lot more experience than Mamdani. By the time he entered City Hall, at the age of fifty-one, he’d already been elected seven times to the US House of Representatives. With wit and fury, he’d flayed Prohibition, immigration quotas, monopolies, and corporate greed. “There are other streets and other attitudes in New York besides Wall Street,” he shouted in 1924. “I speak for Avenue A and 116th Street instead of Broad and Wall.” He’d also been elected president of New York City’s Board of Aldermen, where he encountered firsthand the Byzantine and outdated structure of city government—so that he knew, when he became mayor, where the bodies were buried.