A person who can't afford to live in New York City on their own income becomes dependent on social welfare and the politicians who provide it. Ultimately, votes are bought with free bus rides!
When Socialism Began in New York
The conditions for the emergence of a socialist mayoral candidate in the city were created a quarter century ago. From 2000 to 2017, GDP(1) in New York City increased by almost 94%, from $839,853 million to $1,624,801 million. During the same period, taxes collected by New York City grew by 69%, from $32.2 billion to $54.5 billion.(2) In other words, the increase in tax collection was almost a third less than the increase in GDP. This created the preconditions for an increase in average wages in the city. But this did not happen. From 2000 to 2017, average annual wages decreased by 2%, from $57,659 to $56,480.(3) These are real wages adjusted for inflation. Average wages haven't increased because 650,000 new jobs have appeared in New York City in 17 years, most of which were low-paying!(3) This had a negative impact on average wage statistics.
Those 17 years were a dramatic period for the New York City labor market. Job growth was nearly 20%. That's a significant increase. So significant that the structure of the labor market changed, and these changes persist to this day. In 2024, 47% of New York City employees worked for an hourly wage less than the national average wage of $32.66 per hour.(4) The industries in which these people work are characterized by low wages throughout the United States. And New York City doesn't make these professions high-paying, despite the city's very high cost of living.
In New York City, there are eight occupational groups whose average hourly wage is lower than the average hourly wage in the United States. The share of representatives of the fifth occupational group in the New York City labor market is greater than the share of the national labor market!
For example, representatives of the occupational group "Healthcare support" make up 4.8% of the national labor market. Their average hourly wage in the national average is $19.06. In the New York City labor market, the occupational group "Healthcare support" makes up 8.6%. The average hourly wage for representatives of this profession is $20.23. This is less than 1% higher than the national average and almost half less than the average hourly wage in New York City of $40.65. More detailed information is presented in Table 2.(4)
From 2000 to 2017, New York City effectively became a city of working poor! People work, but don't earn enough to live a decent life. Therefore, wages are losing their significance. Meanwhile, the importance of government support is increasing! It's fair to say that social benefits make it possible to earn wages that aren't sufficient to live in New York City!
People are losing their independence because they can't earn a living. New Yorkers are becoming dependent on officials who distribute social benefits and try to support them through other administrative means! And this affects election results.
Here's how it happened between 2000 and 2017. Although average wages decreased back then, the minimum hourly wage increased almost threefold, from $4.25 on March 31, 2000, to $13.00 on December 31, 2017.* Over 17 years, authorities increased this figure 10 times through administrative measures!(5) Over the same period, spending on government support in New York State, and consequently New York City, almost doubled from $236,168,838(6) to $436,139,194.(7) That is, a threefold increase in the minimum hourly wage and a twofold increase in the amount of benefits paid occurred simultaneously with a two percent decrease in average wages.
Socialism will continue
Let's be honest. Currently, wages in New York City are rising more often than falling.(8) However, the labor market structure with a large share of low-wage occupational groups will persist. New York will remain a city of poverty.
Indeed, according to forecasts, the fastest growth in the city will be in the low-wage sectors of the economy. For example, from 2020 to 2030, the number of jobs in the "Food services and drinking places" industry is expected to increase by 94%. This means the city will gain almost 150,000 workers whose average salary is only $40,600 per year, or less than half of the annual cost of living in New York City.(9) By comparison, over 10 years, the number of highly paid workers in the "Securities, Commodity Contracts, Investments" industry will increase by only 4.1%, or almost 7,000 people. The average salary of these people is $470,900 per year!(10)
That is, the authorities don't consider what's happening in the New York City labor market a mistake. Because the development of low-wage occupational groups has been ongoing for decades and will continue. Even so, the share of low-wage workers in the New York City labor market is already, in most cases, higher than in the national labor market.(4) This is a deliberate government policy!
Conclusions
In the current situation, we need to remember where it all began. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed welfare reform. Thanks to this, since 2000, every US state has received greater opportunities in this area.(11) Since then, the amount of government assistance provided to New York residents has increased rapidly. In 2023, spending on this amounted to $2.36 billion.(12) This is almost 10 times more than in 1999.(6) Such rapid growth in government assistance indicates that more and more people are becoming unsuccessful in participating in the US economy!
But that's only half the problem. The second part is that receiving benefits has become more profitable than earning a salary! In 35 states, including New York, the amount of social assistance by 2013 had become so large that it exceeded the minimum wage.(13) And this discredits the idea of employment! There is no reason to work if social assistance is greater than a salary!
Working hard to achieve success is becoming unfashionable. Living on welfare payments from more successful citizens is the new trend. This poses a threat to the foundations of the United States. After all, America is capitalist, not socialist!
In their quest to retain power, regional political elites have gone too far! So far that they pose a threat to the US polity. And if the US polity is changed, it will be done at the national level, in the White House and Congress, not at the level of individual cities. The victory of socialism in New York City would be a mutiny on board. And this is the main reason why federal authorities are dissatisfied with pro-socialist mayoral candidates.
But let's be fair to this guy. The injection of socialism into capitalist US society is a consequence of the lack of fresh ideas among federal politicians. All the ideas that American society revolves around were voiced in the last century. And these ideas are based on the search for answers to philosophical questions. And definitive answers to these questions are, in principle, impossible to give. Abortion, weapons, the environment. It's always a yes and no. In other words, it's an endless debate. And sooner or later, voters will tire of this debate.
New York City attempted a local creative approach to break free from national boredom! And this attempt captivated voters for 25 years. Otherwise, those who orchestrated this experiment would not have been able to hold power over the city. But now the time has come to reassess and reaffirm the correctness of this chosen path. To do so, it is necessary to answer just one non-philosophical question: "Is New York the city where the American dream is born, or is New York the city where the American dream dies?"
*other than fast food employees
References
1) ntryeconomy.com/gdp/usa-states/new-york
2) .nyc.ny.us/iboreports/printnycbtn92.pdf
3) .nyc.ny.us/iboreports/employment-wage-growth-btn.pdf
4) click here
5) .ny.gov/history-minimum-wage-new-york-state
6) click here
7) click here
8) .ny.gov/labor-statistics-new-york-city-region
9) click here
10) click here
11) click here
12) .osc.ny.gov/reports/finance/2023-fcr/public-welfare
13) .cato.org/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade-2013#
(Article changed on Oct 15, 2025 at 2:58 AM EDT)
(Article changed on Oct 15, 2025 at 3:16 AM EDT)
(Article changed on Oct 15, 2025 at 3:25 AM EDT)
