Mamdani's Plan for Small Businesses Is Really Another Expansion of Government

On one hand, we're glad this latest video from Zohran Mamdani doesn't involve him begging working-class New Yorkers for more money. On the other hand, this video seems almost too good to be true, because he sounds almost like a capitalist.

We'll set aside how absolutely cringe the video is, and instead focus on the substance.

Soon small businesses won’t have to wait for Small Business Saturday to get attention from their Mayor.

Some changes that they can look forward to: pic.twitter.com/bREMZNcgFr
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 29, 2025

"Small businesses employ nearly half of all New Yorkers in the private sector," Mamdani says. "They keep the city running. But the last four years have been hard. We've seen the dollar slice go extinct, storefront after storefront close, and had a mayor in Eric Adams who has ignored the struggles of small businesses."

As Mayor, Mamdani is vowing to "make it faster, easier, and cheaper for small businesses to get started and stay open."

"First, we're going to cut fines and fees for small businesses by 50 percent," Mamdani continues. "Regulations are but small businesses have to navigate more than 6,000 of them with far fewer resources than the big chains."

So far, so good, right? Well, then the other shoe drops.

"That's why, as mayor, I'll appoint a Mom & Pop Czar with a clear goal of making it easier to run a small business," Mamdani adds.

There it is—more government.

"Next, we're going to accelerate permits and applications. The Mom & Pop Czar will coordinate with agencies to speed up turnaround times, cut red tape, and let New Yorkers start businesses sooner," Mamdani says. "Because you shouldn't have to fill out 24 forms and go through seven agencies to start a barbershop."

"But most of all, we're putting our money where our mouth is," Mamdani continues, "by increasing funding for small business support programs by 500 percent. We're going to invest $20 million in our Business Express Service Teams, which pair small businesses with a city case manager that helps them navigate permits and regulations, as well as connecting them with programs that provide them with financial and legal assistance."

"Right now," Mamdani says, "only three percent of businesses are using these programs. We want that number to skyrocket. The only thing more New York than an egg and cheese are the small businesses that make them."

Some are very skeptical of this plan.

So your plan is to create another government agency headed by a small business "czar" who will have a team of politically appointed government workers who can help selected small businesses get tax payer money, avoid red tape & not pay fines? This has corruption written all over…
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) December 1, 2025

"This has corruption written all over it," the user noted.

We have to assume DEI and woke progressive politics will play a role in which businesses get a boost and which ones don't.

How very capitalist of you.

What do your comrades at the DSA think about this?
— Skeptical Stoic (@StoicSkeptical) November 30, 2025

They can't be happy about a lot of this, can they?

they won't have to worry about being in business anymore either
— futwick (@harshyourmellow) December 1, 2025

Bodega owners warned that Mamdani's plan for government-run grocery stores would drive them all out of business.

Does that include all small businesses? Do certain small businesses get taxed differently?
— justathreeringcircus (@ezroll234) November 29, 2025

Yeah, what about the ones in White neighborhoods?

I love so much that occupational licensing reform and even cutting "red tape" are so popular thats someone as far left as he is all for it. So wild https://t.co/tW0fyXMpLP
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair 🦥 (@senatorshoshana) November 30, 2025

If he means it, great. We suspect he only means it in certain circumstances.

Apparently nobody is understanding that this guy isn’t accidentally “good” on an issue.

This is done only to make it easier for illegal aliens and other foreigners to “set up shop” without having to jump through hoops. Established businesses didn’t have that luxury, but now… https://t.co/ShK1S5JdVm
— John Doyle (@JohnDoyle) November 30, 2025

The entire post reads:

This is done only to make it easier for illegal aliens and other foreigners to “set up shop” without having to jump through hoops. Established businesses didn’t have that luxury, but now Mamdani is increasing startup cash for “new businesses” (whose businesses?) and removing regulations or waving fines for things that I’m guessing these extremely un-assimilated demographics would have no ability to do, much less interest in doing.
Cleanliness standards, worker hygiene standards, temperature control/food safety, inspections, record-keeping…something tells me that Mamdani isn’t rugpulling his Marxist base. He’s rewarding it.
Because Marxism is not an ideology to people with no intellectual history. It means “free stuff and doing whatever I want.” That’s why the foreign-born population elected him mayor and that’s what he’s doing here.

The absolutely last thing you need is less oversight and regulation of people who are navigating civilization for the first time.

This is all true, and likely where this program is headed.

I'm actually shocked by the number of people falling for this who think Zohran is doing this because he's pragmatic or thoughtful and not because 90+% of small businesses in New York are run by Muslims (not even an exaggeration) https://t.co/YFau4rAetH
— Future Moldovan Citizen (@MainstreamViews) November 30, 2025

Also, a very valid point.

We'll see how this plays out.