In Defense of Service: Why the Attack on Nonprofits and Mamdani Misses the Mark
The recent opinion pieces attacking New York City’s nonprofit sector and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reveal more about the critics than they do about the reality of social service delivery in America’s largest city. The argument that nonprofits have created some kind of socialist voting bloc fundamentally misunderstands both how nonprofits operate and why New Yorkers voted for change.
The Economic Reality Conservative Critics Ignore
Critics claim that New York’s nonprofit workforce is somehow manipulating democracy, but they conveniently overlook a crucial fact: these workers are paid significantly less than their public sector counterparts. According to The New School’s Center for New York City Affairs, nonprofit social service jobs pay almost one-third less than comparable public-sector positions when benefits are included. NYC Comptroller data shows that while nonprofits employ over 662,000 people citywide, the median nonprofit wage is just $63,056 compared to $93,133 for all private sector workers.
If there’s a conspiracy here, it’s remarkably self-defeating. These workers are not riding some gravy train; they’re providing essential services for below-market compensation. The idea that they voted for Mamdani because they’re somehow gaming the system is contradicted by their own pay stubs. According to the JustPay Campaign’s research, human service workers make between 20-35 percent less in median annual wages and benefits than workers in comparable positions in the public and private sector.
Who Actually Benefits from Nonprofit Service Delivery
The conservative critique conveniently ignores who benefits most from New York’s nonprofit model: taxpayers and the city budget. When government wants to scale services like community-based mental health programs, homeless shelters, or alternatives to incarceration, nonprofits allow rapid expansion without the long-term pension obligations and union contracts that come with expanding the municipal workforce. According to NYC Comptroller research, nonprofits contribute over $77 billion annually to the city’s economy—9.4 percent of New York City GDP.
In other words, the nonprofit model has been a conservative dream for decades—privatized service delivery at lower cost than direct government provision. The city spent $15.6 billion on human services contracts in the last fiscal year, most paid to nonprofits that employ workers earning 20-35 percent less than comparable public sector positions. Yet now that nonprofit workers have voted for a candidate who promises to address their economic struggles, suddenly this efficient system is portrayed as a threat to democracy.
The Affordability Crisis Is Real
Mamdani didn’t win because of some nonprofit conspiracy. He won because New York is experiencing a genuine affordability crisis that affects millions of residents across all sectors. According to Realtor.com’s 2025 rent report, median asking rent reached $3,599 per month—a 5.4 percent increase from the previous year. NYC Comptroller analysis shows households would need to earn $140,000 annually to avoid being rent-burdened at current median rent levels of $3,500 per month, nearly double the city’s median household income.
When nearly 100,000 volunteers knocked on three million doors for Mamdani’s campaign, they weren’t talking about nonprofit employment policy. They were talking about rent, groceries, and subway fares—issues that affect New Yorkers regardless of where they work. According to housing crisis analysis, average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan exceeds $4,000 monthly, adding up to about $48,000 annually.
The Myth of the Nonprofit Monolith
The attack on nonprofits treats over 80,000 workers as if they’re a unified political force. This is fantasy. According to New York State Comptroller analysis, the nonprofit sector provides 1.3 million jobs statewide across diverse industries. The sector includes everyone from domestic violence counselors to environmental advocates, from immigrant rights organizers to arts educators. These workers don’t share a unified ideology; they share economic precarity.
According to Nonprofit Quarterly, many nonprofit workers are themselves immigrants working in essential sectors with low wages and precarious conditions. Data from the NYC Comptroller shows that 64 percent of nonprofit workers are women, 56 percent are people of color, and 34 percent are foreign-born. They voted for Mamdani not because of sector loyalty, but because his platform spoke directly to their material needs.
Missing the Working-Class Message
Conservative critics miss the forest for the trees. Mamdani’s coalition included taxi drivers he helped win $450 million in debt relief, transit riders who benefited from his fare-free bus pilot, and working families crushed by rising costs. His victory was about class politics, not sector politics.
The highest voter turnout in 50 years didn’t happen because nonprofit workers mobilized their sector. It happened because millions of New Yorkers across all employment sectors decided that the status quo wasn’t working.
The Real Question About Service Delivery
Rather than attacking nonprofit workers for voting their economic interests, we should be asking why we’ve created a system where essential services are delivered by workers paid one-third less than their public sector counterparts. This isn’t efficiency; it’s exploitation disguised as fiscal responsibility. According to research from the Fiscal Policy Institute, roughly two-thirds of all full-time human services workers had 2019 earnings below the city’s near-poverty threshold, with 15 percent qualifying for food stamps—higher than the 12 percent share for all private sector workers.
New York’s nonprofit sector exists because city government has chosen to contract out services rather than provide them directly. This was a policy choice, not an accident. For decades, both Republican and Democratic administrations embraced this model precisely because it was cheaper than expanding city payroll. The human services contract workforce employs over 80,000 workers staffed predominantly by workers of color (75 percent) and women (70 percent), with women of color constituting 55 percent of this workforce.
The Hypocrisy of Attacking Worker Voice
When corporate executives donate to political campaigns and lobby for favorable policies, we call it participation in democracy. When nonprofit workers vote for a candidate who promises to address their economic concerns, conservative critics call it a threat to the social order.
This double standard reveals the real anxiety: not that nonprofits are too powerful, but that working-class New Yorkers—including nonprofit employees—have successfully organized for political change.
What Mamdani’s Victory Actually Represents
Mamdani’s election represents a straightforward proposition: that city government should prioritize making life affordable for working people. His platform—rent freezes for stabilized housing, fare-free buses, universal childcare, and city-owned grocery stores—speaks to material needs, not ideological abstractions.
Critics who focus on the nonprofit workforce as some kind of special interest miss the point entirely. These workers are part of the broader working class that Mamdani mobilized. Their vote wasn’t about protecting their sector; it was about surviving in an increasingly unaffordable city.
The Conservative Blind Spot
The conservative critique reveals a fundamental blind spot: the inability to recognize legitimate economic grievances when they come from workers whose labor doesn’t fit neatly into traditional union categories. Nonprofit workers aren’t asking for special treatment; they’re asking for the same things as other working New Yorkers—affordable housing, fair wages, and accessible public services. According to sector research, many nonprofits struggle with high vacancy rates averaging 11 percent, with over 30 percent reporting vacancy rates higher than 15 percent, resulting in unsustainable workloads for remaining staff.
The fact that they organized effectively and voted in large numbers isn’t a conspiracy. It’s democracy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nonprofits accounted for 12.8 million jobs nationally in 2022, representing 9.9 percent of private-sector employment, with New York having one of the highest shares of nonprofit employment at 17 percent or more of the state’s private workforce.
Moving Forward
Instead of attacking nonprofit workers for participating in democracy, critics should engage with the substantive questions Mamdani’s victory raises: How do we make New York affordable for working people? How do we ensure essential services are delivered efficiently and humanely? How do we support workers who provide critical community services?
These are the real issues facing New York City. The nonprofit workforce didn’t create the affordability crisis, the housing shortage, or the inadequate public transit system. They’re just living with the consequences, like millions of other New Yorkers.
Mamdani’s election represents New Yorkers’ decision that these problems require bold solutions, not incremental adjustments. Whether his administration succeeds will depend on implementation, not on who voted for him or where they work.
The attack on nonprofits is ultimately a distraction from the real question: Can city government effectively address the economic struggles facing the majority of its residents? That’s the question New Yorkers voted to answer, and it’s a question that transcends any single employment sector.
Democracy works best when all workers—whether they punch a clock at City Hall, a nonprofit office, or a private company—can vote their interests and advocate for policies that improve their lives. That’s not a conspiracy. That’s citizenship.
