“When people say buses can never be free,” says socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, smiling, “don’t ask them to take a hike. Ask them to take the ferry.”
The video, with beautiful footage of New York Harbor from the Staten Island Ferry — “the best way to see the Statue of Liberty,” says the assemblyman who recently described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare” — and the throng of New Yorkers from all walks of life boarding the ferry, quickly reveals its point: the iconic and heavily trafficked commuter boat is free and has been since 1997. The video offered an inviting and aesthetic defense of one of Mamdani’s key campaign promises, fast and free buses — as well as, almost in passing, an introduction to Mamdani himself and his worldview.
Socialist senator Bernie Sanders is often credited with changing American political culture by running for president in 2016 and 2020, convincing many that we need and can achieve democratic socialism. But a less-discussed aspect of Sanders’s legacy is his media strategy, which he sees as a crucial way to spread his pro-worker message and advance his political program.
In 2018, New York magazine wrote about Sanders’s “mini media empire.” By then, the senator was already using his high profile to make “Bernie TV,” media that could counter “establishment” media by hosting an interview show, occasionally turning down media requests in favor of posting his own video commentary (on, for example, Trump’s first address to Congress), and streaming town-hall style programs to Facebook Live. His live media events drew bigger audiences than CNN.
Mamdani’s paean to the Staten Island Ferry is a beautiful and uplifting video — as well as informative, with archival photos of the ferry when it cost five cents. It’s also just one example of how Mamdani’s campaign has clearly learned…
Auteur: Liza Featherstone
