New polls show Zohran Mamdani sitting comfortably atop the New York City mayoral contest, with multiple surveys putting him well ahead of former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa as the city hurtles toward the November election. For conservatives watching, Mamdani’s polling cushion isn’t just numbers — it’s a clear signal that the Democratic base in the nation’s biggest city has embraced far-left promises over practical governance.

Those same polls make plain why: Mamdani’s message on affordability and sweeping social programs has energized young renters, recent arrivals, and large immigrant communities who say cost of living beats law-and-order as their top concern. Voters fed up with sky-high rents and stagnant wages are flocking to any candidate offering an immediate-sounding fix, even if the math doesn’t add up.

The general election picture is further complicated by Andrew Cuomo’s decision to run as an independent after conceding the Democratic primary, creating a fractured field that paradoxically seems to help Mamdani rather than hurt him. Cuomo’s comeback bid has failed to consolidate moderates, and that split leaves a clear lane for Mamdani to turn his primary energy into a general-election rout.

Conservative readers should be alarmed — Mamdani’s platform centers on policies that sound compassionate but are reckless in practice: rent freezes, universal entitlements, and higher taxes on the city’s productive taxpayers. Those populist promises always have a day of reckoning, yet the left’s political machinery prefers the headlines to the spreadsheets, and New Yorkers could be left holding the bill.

This race matters beyond city limits because it’s a test of whether Democrats can keep winning by swinging ever-left in dense urban strongholds while ignoring crime, school quality, and fiscal responsibility. If New York’s Democrats reward radical experiments that undercut public safety and private investment, suburban voters and small-business owners elsewhere will take notice, and the party could face payback in places they currently take for granted. (Opinion)

For conservatives and Republicans, this isn’t a time for hand-wringing — it’s a time for organization and messaging. Highlighting real-world consequences of unfinanced promises, championing law enforcement and property rights, and making the case for upward mobility will matter at kitchen tables and in early voting lines across the city. (Opinion)

Odds markets and election handicappers are already pricing Mamdani as the heavy favorite, which should wake up those who still believe established institutions and legacy Democrats will save New York from its own worst impulses. This contest is a referendum on whether raw progressive energy can govern responsibly; if it succeeds, the left will call it a blueprint, and hardworking Americans nationwide will feel the fallout.