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AOC doesn't want to be New York City mayor. Most likely, she has bigger plans
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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Mayor is generally a demotion. Mayor of NYC is like being an authoritarian over a small but major nation with large, critical economy and the 7th largest army in the world. So arguably that would actually be a large step up for AOC, if we're just talking about pure power and authority.
NYC is 7.4% of the US economy. I'm saying that to agree with you, that's bigger than Florida, bigger than every state other than CA, TX, and (obviously) NY.
Stupid recursion
The real issue isn't that being mayor of NYC isn't a serious and respectable position; it obviously is. The real issue is that being mayor of NYC is a political dead-end, especially for a Democrat. NYC is fundamentally very different from the rest of the country; it's unique. Nowhere else in the country is anywhere near as urban as NYC. Nowhere else in the country has a greater share of its population that commutes via walking and public transit. Nowhere else in the country has such a large share of the population living in multifamily housing.
Comparing it to entire states or other nations isn't just about economics. It very much is a world unto itself. Its boroughs have their own unique cultures and even dialects! NYC has such a unique identity; it is a nation within a nation. If NYC broke off from the US, it could absolutely be perfectly viable as a city-state like Singapore. No other place in the country could as easily pull that off as NYC could. The lifestyle, the culture, the history, and even the language of NYC is markedly different from everywhere else in the country. It is part of America while being a part from America.
The point is that NYC is insular and unique. And to most of the country, NYC is a very alien world. The places where the vast majority of Americans live look nothing like NYC. And if you serve as the mayor of NYC, you will be forever linked to that alien place. To most Americans, NYC means the biggest of big cities, and all the political realities that entails. If you are a mayor of NYC, you will forever be seen as not really representing and understanding the way the vast majority of Americans live. You'll be forever linked to old money, old-school big city Democratic machine politics. There's often talk of "real America," and NYC is the polar opposite of that. And that just is never going to be popular in the places that you need to win over in order to win the Electoral College.
The one exception to this is if you are running as a Republican. A Republican, by nature, seems to be antithetical to big-city Democratic politics. You're not as tainted by it. This is why Giuliani actually had a not-completely ridiculous shot at being president for awhile (but even that required being mayor during 9/11.)
Being mayor of NYC is a noble thing. But in terms of national politics, it is a political dead-end. You could probably run for a US Senate seat from New York after being mayor of NYC. But if you serve as the mayor of New York, your chance of ever being president is essentially zero. NYC is simply seen as far too alien by the rest of the country to elect a mayor of that place as president.
A a politician, run for mayor of NYC if you wish. But do so knowing that if you win, you will have to forever write off the chance of being president of the United States.
the "vast majority" of Americans live in cities
You confuse cities for Cities. Take a look at this graphic Again, NYC is a universe unto itself. Nowhere else even comes close.
Yes, the vast majority of the US lives in cities, but most live in sprawling low-density suburbs, which are a type of city. And even for those who live in central cities, even those are mostly composed of low-density neighborhoods. 3/4 of Americans commute by car. And while I cite commute, realize it goes far beyond this. The vast, vast majority of Americans who live in cities live in neighborhoods that physically look nothing like the neighborhoods of NYC. Walking to work and picking up the ingredients for dinner at your local corner bodega is not a normal experience for the vast majority of Americans.
NYC is absolutely a statistical outlier when it comes to the rest of the country. It is a nation within a nation.
Thanks to the antics of old time Mayor Jimmy Walker and Tammany Hall, a lot of NY's power is controlled by the Governor of NY State.
That's really only true with the emergency powers of the governors office. Given the power to appoint 40+ commissioners in NYC and the de facto power the mayor exerts over NYC (despite de jure description) is immense. Give the political, police, and financial power of NYC, I would say the mayor still exerts more authority than the governor.
That being said, the governor of NYC has the power to declare a state of emergency and wildly broaden his power to near authoritarian levels. If that were to occur and then the governor and mayor were to somehow end up toe-to-toe, it would be interesting. But in actual practice, I think that might be a more even match up than you think.
On the other hand, the mayor is point man for literally hundreds of crises. Lindsay had a good shot at becoming President, and lost it because of a snowstorm; Dinkins got screwed by a Korean grocery store boycott.
All three major networks have stations in NYC, plus Fox News and CNN, plus the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. That's not counting the Congressional delegation and the New York Stock Exchange.
The mayor is under a microscope with no Secret Service protection.
Now let's pivot to what 'real power' is. Let's put Lex Luthor as US President and as NYC Mayor. Either way, Lex can have one person killed anywhere in the world, but only as President can he start a war of bring a nation to their knees.
I estimate that Lex could get a billion in brides and kickbacks in one term in office; he could call the Saudis on Inauguration Day and have $50 billion in a Swiss account by the ned of the business day.