Far be it from me to pick on a young and inexperienced new mayor still learning the ins and outs of big-city governance, but New York's Zohran Mamdani is a loathsome Commie-Islamist, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Besides, I get the feeling that he and his team — which I learned yesterday includes a Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice — know just enough already to do all the damage they intend to do to one of the world's greatest cities.
So here's the background you need to know before we get to the part that NYC's socialist overlords dig the most: rationing stuff. After intense lobbying by then-governor Andrew Cuomo at the behest of various lefty groups, Indian Point 2 shut down in 2020, and Indian Point 3 in 2021. (Indian Point 1 was older, smaller, and less capable, and was shut down for those and technical reasons in 1974).
Those two units once provided metropolitan New York City with about 25% of its electricity, all of it clean, baseload power, available 24/7. As originally designed, IP2 was supposed to generate power until 2033, and IP3 until 2035.
The Manhattan Institute's Robert Bryce warned in 2017 that "Closing Indian Point threatens the reliability of the electric grid serving downstate New York, leading to higher power costs and potential energy shortages."
Nevertheless, they persisted.
New York semi-sorta replaced Indian Point's generation with natural gas ("Ew, emissions!"), so-called renewables with flaky reliability (unlike nuclear's high baseload), and energy imports from Canada and neighboring states.
Baseload power is vital because it's always there, and it doesn't require time to spin up when the inevitable heat wave hits — like it did last week. Energy isn't just more expensive without it; production margins are tighter, risking blackouts during peak demand.
Speaking of peak demand, how'd that Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce wedding go? It was great, provided you're a member of the nomenklatura. For regular New Yorkers, already struggling with the heat, it was not so great.
"New York residents are furious at Zohran Mamdani over power restrictions," Wall Street Apes reported on Monday. "Con Edison implemented 8% voltage reductions in parts of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and northern Manhattan. This means residents have to deal with things like slightly [dim] lights and appliances not working at full power."
One resident took his frustrations to social media.
(Foul language, all of it well-deserved.)
New York residents are furious at Zohran Mamdani over power restrictions
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 6, 2026
Con Edison implemented 8% voltage reductions in parts of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and northern Manhattan. This means residents have to deal with things like slightly lights and appliances not working at… pic.twitter.com/6DloFV6p3d
"Remember that while this is happening and residents are being told to keep their air conditioning at 78 degrees, the New York Post did investigative journalism and found temperatures inside City Hall were as low as 54," Wall Street Apes added.
Here's where you might — might — be tempted to cut Mamdani some slack. It isn't like he's the one who shuttered Indian Point 12-15 years too soon.
But it isn't like he campaigned on improving New York City's baseload deficit, either. During his campaign last summer — when another heat wave caused a blackout affecting thousands of New Yorkers — Mamdani ran on promises like "Green Schools for a Healthier New York City" and on his staunch support for the Build Public Renewables Act.
Mamdani also ran on price caps for electricity, incentivizing producers into producing less, not more.
As "progressive" state assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes boasted last fall, the city's public-renewables campaign “was instrumental in getting Zohran elected."
In other words, if New Yorkers can't stand the heat now, just wait until Mamdani actually has a chance to fulfill his campaign promises.
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