{"id":6117,"date":"2026-08-04T11:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T11:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6117"},"modified":"2026-08-04T11:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T11:07:26","slug":"dsas-panhandling-pol-is-just-the-start-as-democrats-careen-toward-a-socialist-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6117","title":{"rendered":"DSA’s panhandling pol is just the start \u2014 as Democrats careen toward a socialist cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New Yorkers, hold onto your wallets and brace yourselves for financial chaos.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s minions in the Democratic Socialists of America are preparing to radicalize the state Legislature in January, when they take their newly won seats in Albany.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more 3 NYC-area hospitals earn nation\u2019s top rankings from US News<\/a><\/p>\n

A warning sign of their coming craziness appeared Friday, when Mamdani-endorsed Assembly candidate Brian Romero put up a GoFundMe page with an unusual request.<\/p>\n

He begged for handouts to cover his\u00a0own rent\u00a0and groceries<\/em> for the rest of this year, until he\u2019s sworn in to represent East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Astoria and other parts of Queens.<\/p>\n

Romero won the Democratic primary in June \u2014 and with no Republican opponent, he\u2019s a shoo-in.<\/p>\n

But he can\u2019t start collecting his $142,000 salary and $203 per diem until January, and he says he can\u2019t figure out how to support himself in the meantime. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Beggar Boy Brian calls this a \u201cchallenging time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to find sort of some gigs, but I don\u2019t know how\u00a0other folks do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther folks,\u201d\u00a0meaning the rest of us who . . . go out and get a job to pay our bills.<\/p>\n

He took the page down after The Post started asking questions.<\/p>\n

Romero, who earned $106,469 as a legislative staffer before resigning to run for office, says he\u2019s run through his savings.<\/p>\n

Yet he\u2019s the guy voters are entrusting with\u00a0billions of dollars in state spending?<\/p>\n

His political platform includes\u00a0a pie-in-the-sky list of government giveaways \u2014 universal child care, free legal services for immigrants and more \u2014 all paid for by making the\u00a0wealthy \u201cpay their fair share.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DSA\u2019s agenda is in truth a freeloader\u2019s agenda, and Romero is its living, breathing poster boy.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s one of the eight\u00a0New York City DSA members who swept to victory against more moderate Democrats in the party\u2019s June primary.<\/p>\n

The meager 17% voter turnout fueled their\u00a0\u201chostile takeover,\u201d as University of Mount Saint Vincent professor JC Polanco told The Post: \u201cThey\u2019ve taken over the party locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

DSA victors like Mamdani-endorsed state Senate candidate Aber Kawas, an avowed socialist, promise\u00a0\u201ctransformative change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Believe her \u2014 and Gustavo Gordillo, NYC-DSA co-chair, who last week condemned the entire \u201cDemocratic Party establishment\u201d for \u201cselling us out to billionaires, landlords and warmongers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Nancy Guthrie investigation failures are \u2018shocking and disturbing\u2019 \u2014 FBI must take control to catch killer: sources<\/a><\/p>\n

And although the DSA caucus will be few in number\u2014 16 in all, four in the state Senate and 12 in the Assembly \u2014 their impact will be huge.<\/p>\n

History shows they vote as a disciplined bloc, and that they can intimidate incumbent Democrats with the implicit threat of a primary campaign powered by thousands of door-knocking volunteers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tax hikes are at the top of their agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought the fight to Gov. Kathy Hochul to tax the rich last session, when we had only nine socialists in the state Legislature,\u201d Gordillo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cycle . . . there\u2019s a whole new crew of progressive legislators who are going to demand what New Yorkers want, which is for Hochul to tax the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DSA agenda \u2014 high taxes, ever-expanding giveaways, utopian accounting \u2014 would bankrupt New York.<\/p>\n

Excessive taxes have already helped push the state into economic decline: The formerly great Empire State now ranks dead last among the 50 states in economic outlook, according to the Tax Foundation\u2019s Business Climate Index and other measures.<\/p>\n

The Citizens\u2019 Budget Commission warned in June that the state is already in precarious financial condition due to excessive spending \u2014 and could face \u201cserious service cuts in the future even without a recession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state Democratic Party, laments that Mamdani\u2019s army is taking out moderate Democrats citywide, turning the party into the red brigade.<\/p>\n

But where are Sens. Chuck Schumer and \u00a0Kirsten Gillibrand, the party\u2019s so-called leaders?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cowering and speechless.<\/p>\n

And where is the Republican Party?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Romero\u2019s waltzing to Albany without having to face any opponent in November\u2019s general election, because the GOP didn\u2019t bother to recruit a candidate to compete for the seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the shameful case in 44 of the 150 Assembly seats being filled this year.<\/p>\n

How demoralizing for Republican voters in those districts.<\/p>\n

Romero\u2019s embarrassing personal choice \u2014 resorting to panhandling instead of earning a living \u2014 is a warning of the threat ahead.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Voters who have any option to vote against these DSA radicals must do so.<\/p>\n

And because Hochul has shown no backbone to resist Mamdani\u2019s radicalism, Republican Bruce Blakeman deserves voters\u2019 full support.<\/p>\n

A vote for Hochul is a vote for the DSA \u2014 and for financial ruin.<\/p>\n

New York state can\u2019t put up a GoFundMe page when the money runs out: The burden will be on you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Astor Place subway station train fire hospitalizes 6 MTA workers, 5 firefighters<\/a><\/p>\n

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlike this Democratic Socialist Assembly candidate, New York state can\u2019t put up a GoFundMe page when the money runs out: The burden will be on you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-betsy-mccaughey","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nDSA's panhandling pol is just the start \u2014 as Democrats careen toward a socialist cliff - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DSA's panhandling pol is just the start \u2014 as Democrats careen toward a socialist cliff - 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