It is no secret that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has had a less-than-stellar first month and a half as mayor of New York City. While the mayor touted his year-over-year drop in overall crime, which dropped by 6% as compared to January of 2025, he has failed across the board in most other areas. His policy of not forcing homeless people inside during the extreme cold resulted in the deaths of 18 homeless people.
The snow clearing and trash removal have been abysmal, with both piling up and causing residents a tremendous amount of discomfort. Oh, and the real reason for the drop in crime over the month of January was the bitter cold we experienced for much of the month, which tends to drive down crime. Well, not all crime. Apparently the one crime statistic that is immune to cold weather (aside from Jussie Smollett attacking himself) is antisemitic attacks. Among Mayor Mamdani’s first acts in office were to redefine antisemitism, fire the previous administrator of the city’s antisemitism taskforce, replace him with a progressive nitwit, and revoke Executive Order 61, which mandated the NYPD to create safe zones around synagogues and houses of worship. The result? Only an 182% increase in antisemitic attacks in January. Suffice it to say, Mamdani’s tenure in office is going about as well as we thought it would.
But just when you thought Mamdani had hit rock bottom, just when you thought that our mayor, who has never met a progressive cause he wouldn’t fight for despite how destructive it is, we are introduced to Jabez Chakraborty. Last month, police were called to assist in a domestic dispute by Chakraborty’s sister in an effort to have him involuntarily transported. Upon arrival, Chakraborty lunged at police with a kitchen knife, which earned him four shots. Chakraborty survived, and has now been indicted on one count of first-degree attempted assault, and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Despite the clear body cam footage (which Progressives vowed would show that police just want to shoot people for no reason) showing Chakraborty charging at officers with the knife, our mayor decided that this is just an innocent bystander who was probably just charging officers because prices are so high these days, and killing a random police officer was all he knew how to do to earn enough money to feed his kids. Not really, but I wouldn’t put it past him. No, he said that Chakraborty’s mental health issues should result in him getting mental help, and not criminal liability - because Mamdani is apparently fine with our police officers getting attacked for responding to a call.
However, Queens DA Melinda Katz was not buying any of this. Despite the mayor’s public call for leniency in this case (he did not contact Katz’s office directly), the Queens DA is going through with the charges, and rightfully so. Mental health issues mean you get to seek help and rehabilitation. However, once conduct extends into causing or attempting to cause serious harm to others, that person needs to be considered dangerous and removed from society. I’m not saying that Chakraborty shouldn’t get the mental health care he so obviously needs; I’m saying that the fact that he obviously needs that help does not mean that he should be allowed to get off with no criminal charges. We can do both. We have the power.
You know who else believes that? Melinda Katz. You know who doesn’t care about accountability? Zohran Mamdani. Like so many on the extreme Left, Mamdani does not care about personal accountability. He thinks that anyone put in a less-than-ideal situation is only there because he has been oppressed somehow. So anyone committing a crime, or living in squalor, or facing the consequences of his own actions, is actually the real victim. Chakraborty was charging at a police officer with a knife out of self defense of the system as a whole keeping him down.
When we have a “leader” who wants to replace rugged individualism with the lie of the warmth of collectivism, these are the results: DAs having to apply the law against the mayor’s objections, the rise in the types of crimes the mayor is okay with, and once the weather gets warmer, the rise of crime with no accountability across the board. The weather is getting warmer, and with that you can expect the warmth of collectivism to steal your car.
Izzo Zwiren is the former host of the Jewish Living Podcast. Follow him and his brothers on their health journey on their YouTube Channel, Brotherly Lovehandles. Izzo lives on Long Island with his wife and three adorable, hilarious children.