Transcript
The confetti is swept up, the old mayor is gone, and the new guy just started his termunderground?I'm Jessie Mercury, and welcome to Stoop Politics.This week, Zoram Mamdani takes the oath of office in a subway station, Eric Adams spendshis final hours vetoing everything in sight, and your commute is about to get more expensivethis Sunday.It's officially the era of audacity, and we are already seeing the backlash.If it's happening in the five boroughs, we're spilling it right here.Let's get into it.First up, the imagery everyone's talking about.While most mayors take their first oath at a podium, not Zoram Mamdani.He went subterranean.Just after midnight on New Year's Eve, he took the oath of office at the old City Hallsubway station.So picture this, the station is abandoned, filled with the tiled arches and vaulted ceilings.Ugh, it's so dramatic.It's moody.It's very Mamdani.He was sworn in by Tish James and Bernie Sanders, using two Qurans.But the real tea isn't the location, it's the speech.Mamdani looked the city in the eye and promised to replace rugged individualism with collectivism.He vowed to govern expansively and audaciously, and he didn't wait.On his first, on his very first day, he signed an executive order voiding all of Eric Adams'recent pro-Israel directives.The backlash was instant, as you can imagine.The Israeli foreign ministry is tweeting at him, and the moderate Democrats are alreadypanicking.Welcome to the new New York, bold, socialist, and immediately controversial.Speaking of the old guard, let's pour one out for Eric Adams' final act of pettiness.We told you he wouldn't go quietly.In his final 24 hours, Adams went on a veto spree.While we were recovering, sounds like I still am, from New Year's Eve, Adams vetoed19 different bills passed by the city council.The big one?It was a bill protecting survivors of gender-motivated violence.The council is furious.Speaker Adrian Adams released a statement basically calling him a coward for doing iton his way out the door.But here's my take from the stoop.Adams knows that the council will just override him next week.So this wasn't about policy.It was about wasting Mamdani's time.Now the new mayor has to spend his first week relitigating old fights instead of launchinghis free bus pilot.It's a classic poison pill left on the desk.And there's no way I could get through an episode without bringing up the messiest momentof the week.If you were watching CNN at midnight on New Year's Eve, you saw Andy Cohen, shot glassin hand, unleash a farewell roast that made his Bill de Blasio rant look polite.In case you don't remember, de Blasio got roasted by Cohen on his way out in 2022.With Anderson Cooper and B.J. Novak looking terrified next to him, Cohen toasted to theend of Adams' chaotic and horrible term.His words, guys, not mine.Cohen didn't hold back.He screamed a few other things that you can find all over social media.Adams naturally did not take the high road, and he posted on X yesterday calling it asloppy drunken rant and suggested that Cohen join AAA, Andy's Alcohol Anonymous.It's the perfect ending, really.The nightlife mayor getting into a flame war with a Bravo host while the rest of us just,ugh, God, try to make it peacefully into the new year.Finally, check your pockets, because the price of living here just went up.Starting this Sunday, January 4th, the subway fare is officially rising to $3.But Jess, you told us in the last episode it would be $3.25.Yes.Yes, I did.And here's the deal.The first figure I mentioned in episode six was based on early doom and gloom projectionsfloating around City Hall during the budget standoff.Some officials were threatening a higher fare hike if the federal funding didn't come through.Now thankfully, they wound up settling on the $3 figure.So $3 this Sunday.Get ready.It's only a dime, you say.Yeah, but it's the principle.The MTA says they need the money because of inflation and the rollout of the contactlesspayment system, but remember that federal funding freeze from Trump?That is still looming over the budget.Protest groups like the Fare Ain't Fair Coalition, cute name, in my opinion, are planning a massiveswipe strike for Monday morning.So they're calling for riders to jump the turnstiles in protest.Mamdani, who ran on free buses, is now in a really awkward position of having his policeforce arrest people for skipping a fare that he thinks shouldn't exist.So what do you think?Time to get a little wild and jump some turnstiles this weekend?All right, guys.The new mayor is quoting Bernie Sanders in the subway.The old mayor is ghosting the council.And your MetroCard is crying.Happy New Year, New York.Join me next week on Stoop Politics.We're going to see if the city council can override those 19 vetoes before the snow hits.Again, I'm Jessi Mercury.Stay warm, guys.Try not to get arrested in the subway.
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