Republican Bruce Blakeman is drawing a hard line against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda — and he’s not mincing words.
The Nassau County Executive and GOP gubernatorial candidate told Fox News Digital he won’t work with Mamdani if elected governor. He’ll shut down the mayor’s plans instead.
“First of all, let me be clear. I don’t have to work with Zohran Mamdani. He has to work with me,” Blakeman said.
“When I become governor, I’m not going to let him destroy the fabric of New York City. I’m not going to let him destroy the economy of New York City, and I’m not going to let him make New York unsafe. Those are all things he’s doing right now, and I will stop him.”
Mamdani has pushed city-owned grocery stores, free bus service, and rent freezes since taking office. Progressives praise the proposals. Republicans call them taxpayer-funded expansions of government that crush small business.
Blakeman singled out the city-owned grocery stores as particularly offensive.
“I don’t want to compete with bodega owners and small grocery stores in New York. Government should not be competing with the private sector,” Blakeman said. “Many of these businesses are family-owned businesses, and I don’t want to hurt them.”
He called the proposal “complete nonsense” and argued taxpayers would be forced to foot the bill.
“Somebody’s got to pay for that,” he said. “These are hardworking people. They’ve created the business, and Zohran Mamdani wants to take it away from them because he’s a communist. He doesn’t believe in property rights. He doesn’t believe in capitalism.”
Blakeman is running to unseat Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul in November. President Donald Trump has endorsed him.
His own agenda centers on cutting taxes, lowering utility costs, and keeping businesses in New York — the opposite of Mamdani’s vision.
Day one as governor, Blakeman pledged, New York will no longer be a sanctuary state.
“I will sign an executive order that we are no longer a sanctuary state,” he said. “I will roll out the biggest middle-class tax cut in the history of New York.”
Under his plan, single filers making $50,000 or less and joint filers making up to $100,000 would pay zero state income tax. He also promised to cut utility rates in half by ending what he called the state’s “green energy scam.”
“She takes money out of their payments every month to invest in science projects that cost billions of dollars,” Blakeman said of Hochul. “That ends on day one when I become governor.”
The comments come as Mamdani’s rise has fueled a broader national debate over far-left policies. Three socialist candidates won races in Tuesday’s New York primaries, adding to the attention surrounding the movement.
Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki dismissed Blakeman’s proposals, saying he’s “too busy catering to the far-right, embracing January 6 architects, and caving to Donald Trump to fight for them and their families.”
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
