NYC Leaders Just Voted to Give Themselves a Massive Pay Raise

It must be nice to be a socialist in charge of America's biggest city. Not only can you make it impossible for landlords to earn a living renting out properties, you can simply legislate a pay raise for yourself using other people's money. That's what's happening in New York City, where the advisory committee appointed by Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani just recommended an 18.2 percent pay increase for city leaders.
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It's good to be the king.
BREAKING: Mamdani-appointed advisory commission just recommended an 18.2% pay increase for city leaders pic.twitter.com/bRhNPGwDaC
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 7, 2026
Shameless city lawmakers are pushing to give themselves eye-watering 18.2% raises — in a scheme that will also give them automatic pay hikes of at least 2% every year in the future.
City Council Member Nantasha Williams (D-27) introduced a bill that would inflate her and her colleagues’ salaries from $148,500 to $175,500 backdated to January, while also ballooning pay for the mayor, the City Council speaker and other elected positions.
The bill comes days after the lawmakers signed off on a record-breaking $126 billion city budget and includes salaries even higher than a 16% raise the council tried to sneak by in a similar bank-account boosting measure at the end of their session last year.
And the bill also ensures taxpayers will be on the hook to pay elected officials more every year — with no requirement for public debate or a City Council vote.
For now, Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin say they wouldn't take the raises themselves. But lying is what politicians do best, so we'd keep a close eye on that.
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Communism on full display.
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) July 7, 2026
The elites always have money, privilege, and freedom. The rest of us do not.
Mamdani's new proposed salary would pay him more than the combined salaries of the Governor of Florida & Texas. NYC Council Members would earn more than Members of Congress and the state legislators in all 50 states. pic.twitter.com/lB7GiG1Et5
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) July 8, 2026
Simply incredible.
They are paying their friends $218,400 a year for a no-show "public advocate" job while you are working for $17/hr, still waiting on free bus fare, and hoping they 'freeze' your already sky-high and unaffordable rent. 🤣
— Martin Lukas (@MartinLukasMD) July 7, 2026
And when your building falls into disrepair because your landlord can't make rent, the city will take over and you'll live in a slum.
Communists always pay themselves first. https://t.co/lIglutU4TJ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 7, 2026
Always, invariably.
.@NYCMayor Mamdani’s appointed advisory commission is recommending an 18.2% raise for himself and other elected officials purportedly because of inflation, yet his self-appointed Rent Guidelines Board — which is supposed to consider inflation in setting rents— froze rents for two… https://t.co/iYDIViz0uQ
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 7, 2026
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They're (D)ifferent. The entire purpose of freezing rents is to justify government seizure of private property down the road.
Socialism/Communism is all about imposed equality except for those doing the empathetic redistribution. They deserve more than the lowly worker ants. https://t.co/btpb7Z3IJ9
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) July 7, 2026
Under communism and socialism, there are two classes: the political elites and their wealthy allies, and the poor. Mamdani and his friends are in the former; the rest of us are in the latter.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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