Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s struggles to implement her sweeping progressive agenda on fare-free transit and rent control highlight the institutional and legislative roadblocks that New York’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani must navigate to achieve transformative change.
The election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City has placed him alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as a figurehead for the new wave of progressive municipal leadership in America’s largest cities. Wu, who was elected in 2021 on a platform focused on fare-free transit, rent control, and aggressive climate action, has already provided a roadmap–both for success and for the profound difficulties–that Mamdani is likely to encounter. Wu’s experience in Boston highlights a fundamental challenge: the ambitious platforms of progressive mayors often crash against the reality of state preemption and entrenched institutional power (Progressive Mayors vs. Developers – The American Prospect).
The Limits of Mayoral Power: State Control
A significant portion of Mamdani’s agenda, like his signature plan for free bus service, requires cooperation, and often approval, from the state level. In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which controls the bus system, is a state agency. Similarly, Boston’s Wu has faced substantial hurdles in implementing her core promises:
- Rent Control: Wu, like Mamdani, ran on a promise to bring back rent control. However, Boston’s ability to implement this policy was stripped away by the state legislature in 1994, and its return requires a state-level ballot initiative or legislative change (Progressive Mayors vs. Developers – The American Prospect). New York’s system of rent stabilization is also controlled at the state level.
- Fare-Free Transit: Wu has struggled to expand her successful fare-free bus pilot programs citywide due to funding and operational resistance from the state-controlled MBTA.
Wu’s governing experience demonstrates that, despite winning a powerful city mandate, the ability of progressive mayors to deliver sweeping change is often constrained by state legislative bodies that are either more moderate or influenced by powerful statewide lobbies, such as the real estate and finance industries. This requires Mamdani to engage in sophisticated, state-level political maneuverings rather than relying solely on executive authority.
Balancing Movement Loyalty with Pragmatism
The political challenges extend beyond state lines. Wu, though strongly progressive, had to scale back some ambitious proposals on transit and policing after taking office, prompting criticism from the local left that she abandoned her campaign promise for transformative change (Which Way Mamdani? – Vital City). She also supported an elected school board while campaigning, but vetoed legislation for it upon taking office, citing the need for strong mayoral control to improve the schools. This highlights a crucial dilemma for Mamdani: how to balance the demands and ideological purity of his socialist base with the pragmatic necessity of navigating complex city bureaucracy and political realities. Wu’s model suggests that success often requires a pivot from the radicalism of the campaign to the negotiation and compromise required for effective governance.
The Challenge of Economic Delivery
Both mayors face an intense affordable housing crisis fueled by a scarcity of buildable land and the political power of developers. In Boston, developers successfully guided the development of the Seaport District into a hub of hotels, offices, and luxury housing with minimal affordable units, even after receiving substantial public subsidies (Progressive Mayors vs. Developers – The American Prospect). This failure to bend developers to the will of the public underscores the immense pressure Mamdani will face in New York, where the real estate lobby is arguably the most powerful in the world. Wu’s experience provides Mamdani with an early warning: winning the election is only the first step; the sustained political will and coalition-building required to deliver on sweeping economic reforms is the true test of progressive city leadership.
