Mamdani Promised Free Buses — Now Nearly Half of Riders Are Taking Him at His Word

The irony is complete. Mamdani campaigned on free buses. He doesn’t control the MTA — that’s Kathy Hochul and the state. He couldn’t deliver free buses even if he wanted to. But New York City riders heard the promise, absorbed the promise, and are now acting as if the promise is policy. The MTA is eating $31 million in losses because the mayor of New York City ran a campaign that told people not to pay for something he had no power to make free.

This is Socialism 101. The promise is free. The consequences cost someone else money. In this case, the MTA — which is already perpetually underfunded, which depends on fare revenue to maintain service, and which is controlled by a governor who is now quietly furious at Mamdani for creating a fare-evasion crisis through sheer rhetorical recklessness.

The city and state have since pivoted to a plan focused on speeding up bus routes rather than eliminating fares. But union leaders and transit experts say the “free bus” rhetoric has already done its damage.

Manhattan rents are at all-time highs. Universal childcare costs twice what Mamdani’s campaign advertised. Government grocery stores are open to anyone on earth with no ID or residency verification. The pied-à-terre tax has an exemption process so broken that an 81-year-old widow nearly paid $42,000 to prove she lives in her own home. The rent freeze drove market rents to record levels. And now $31 million in bus fare revenue has evaporated because the mayor told people the buses were free when they’re still $3.