Today is the 46th day of Mayor Mamdani’s administration and troubling patterns demanding scrutiny from Black New Yorkers are already emerging. We’ve learned that early signals matter. The Democratic Socialists of America’s national platform, which Mamdani ran on and believes in, includes calls to decriminalize hard drugs, defund or abolish policing, and dismantle charter schools, despite high demand in communities of color. Such dogma overlooks that these policies are profoundly out of step with Black New York. Campaigns are about aspiration. Governing is about execution. Black communities live with the consequences when ideology replaces competence. These disconnects explain why DSA-aligned candidates consistently underperform in working-class, majority-Black neighborhoods. The trust and alignment isn’t there. Across New York City, hundreds of thousands of Black families remain trapped in unstable housing conditions. More than half a million residents live in NYCHA development plagued by chronic mold, broken elevators, and heating failures; others reside in subpar tenements run by crooked landlords. These are daily realities. Solves require leadership with an ability to manage and fix. Mamdani’s key housing appointment reflects different priorities, entrusting the Office to Protect Tenants to an activist whose public record isn’t focused on problem-solving but by repeated ideological declarations that dismiss property ownership itself as inherently suspect. Black New Yorkers do not need lectures. They need wealth creation denied for generations. The legacy of redlining and discriminatory housing policy is devastating. But responding to history by attacking the very concept of ownership is not progress. It is misdirection, because for many Black families, owning a home remains the most reliable path to generational stability. Any administration claiming to speak for diverse working people should respect our aspirations, not dismiss them. This tension reflects a broader concern. Mamdani and many of his senior staff didn’t rise not through the disciplines of government or the private sector, but through activist networks associated with the DSA. Education policy offers another early test. Charter schools educate hundreds of thousands of New York City students, most of whom are Black and Latino. Thousands of kids from neighborhoods zoned to chronically underperforming district schools sit on charter school wait lists. They aren’t an ideology, but a proven response to parental demand and kids’ needs. Black New Yorkers’ hope was that Mamdani, who attacked charter schools repeatedly during his campaign, would put aside nonsensical hostilities and realize that high-performing schools that lift outcomes for diverse, lower-income New Yorkers could be a natural partner for his promise to deliver a more equitable city. Yet the administration is silent on charter engagement, and fights other high-performing public-school models that have expanded opportunities for Black students. Ignoring or outright dismissing Black parents who seek options is not progress — or progressive. Real equity means expanding what delivers, not dismantling it to satisfy ideology. Trust is further strained by the administration’s staffing decisions, with Black representation at historic lows. For an administration that plays up the language of inclusion and liberation, the absence of Black voices raises alarm. Why are the communities most affected by city policy not proportionally represented where decisions are made? Black New Yorkers aren’t asking for special treatment, but serious leadership that respects lived experience and values outcomes over slogans, understanding that stability, safety, education, and ownership aren’t abstract theories, but foundations of community strength. Course correction is possible. Responsible leadership listens early, adjusts quickly, and governs with discipline. Black New Yorkers are watching closely to see what path Mamdani chooses. Jones is the president of the National Black Empowerment Action Fund. ...read more read less