CNN host Fareed Zakaria tore into New York and Los Angeles’ Democrat leaders for ‘promising more’ while ‘delivering less’ affordability.
The Fareed Zakaria GPS star accused blue cities of being ‘out of control’ to start Sunday’s show.
He pointed to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recently proposed 9.5 percent property tax increase as purported proof.
‘New York is really a prime example of a problem Democrats seem unwilling to confront. Blue cities are out of control, promising more, spending more, delivering less, and pushing off the fiscal problems to some future day,’ Zakaria said.
He then turned to LA, ‘another one-party metropolis wrestling with affordability and disorder,’ he maintained.
The city spent $950 million this fiscal year for its homelessness budget under Mayor Karen Bass, the anchor pointed out.
Such sums have become standard each year, he said, before reading out a series of statistics.
‘The LA Homelessness services authority reported in 2023, homelessness was up 9 percent countywide and 10 percent in the city, and a 2024 AP account noted homelessness has surged 70 percent countywide since 2015, and 80 percent in the city.
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria – the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS – accused blue cities of being ‘out of control’ on Sunday’s show during an impassioned monologue about affordability
Zakaria told viewers that spending in cities like LA have failed to address the city’s homelessness issues. Pictured, Skid Row this past December
‘All this amid public frustration, despite billions spent,’ Zakaria fumed.
‘An audit reviewed 2.4 billion in city homelessness funding and found that officials could not reliably track where it went or what it achieved.’
He then honed in on Chicago, another city ‘with a mayor [Democrat Brandon Johnson] whose approval rating is deep underwater, where the pension promises are so large that they will surely bankrupt the city at some point,’ Zakaria said.
‘What is the theory of good government here? If the answer is keep adding programs, the city will keep producing unaffordability because unaffordability is what happens when government becomes a machine that grows faster than the society it governs.’
‘Focus on affordability, especially housing, but not by providing government subsidies.
‘These only seem to have driven up the cost of rent as subsidies naturally do,’ he added of cities like New York.
Rental assistance subsidies spike fivefold since 2020 in the Big Apple, from $263 million to $1.34 billion in 2025.
CNN flashed a graphic showing that increase as Zakaria spoke.
The same holds true for cities like New York, where Zakaria said politicians are dumping money into programs instead of making the streets safe
‘For Democrats in city halls, there is a choice,’ Zakaria said.
The host told such politicians to ‘stop governing as if the goal is to announce new entitlements, and instead make government work.’
‘Safer streets, functioning schools, predictable sanitation, and, above all, enough housing that the middle class can find places to live,’ he listed
‘New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric. It needs more homes.’
Days before, Mayor Mamdani told residents of his city the dire budget crisis could only be solved one of two ways – a property tax hike or a rate increase for the wealthiest New Yorkers.
The mayor does not have the authority to raise property taxes without the approval of City Council. Council Speaker Julie Menin said last week such a move was off-limits.
Gov. Kathy Hochul similarly shut down Mayor Mamdani’s proposed 2 percent hike on New Yorkers making more than $1million annually.
The state of New York’s income tax, meanwhile, is 10.9 percent for those making more than $25 million, the third-highest in the nation, behind California and Hawaii.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last week said he was considering a 9.5percent property tax hike on residents to help dig the city out of a budget crisis
‘New York City does not need more soaring rhetoric. It needs more homes,’ Zakaria said. Rental assistance subsidies spike fivefold since 2020 in the Big Apple, from $263 million to $1.34 billion in 2025
The combined rate for the highest earners in the city – 14.8 percent – tops the nation, with California a close second, at 13 percent.
New York City residents making more than $90,000 already pay an additional 3.876 percent on top of the state rate.
In contrast, California property tax rates are moderate to low, unlike its high income tax.
