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Anti-ICE Chaos is Coming to NYC

BQE Admin on January 21, 2026

Political Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

Get ready, the anti-ICE agitators and paid protesters are preparing to bring the same chaos we are seeing in Minneapolis and Seattle to NYC. 

While NYC has not had ongoing ICE activity that cities like Minneapolis have seen, there have been a few operations in recent months, like in Chinatown in late November that caused great controversy.

And the Trump administration is signaling that NYC will be among the next cities to receive ICE’s attention. A new ICE detention center to hold 1,500 detainees is being prepared in the Hudson Valley. Last year a center that holds 1,000 detainees was reopened in Newark. ICE is preparing for a lot of business in the Metro area. 

After the Chinatown confrontation, where a number of agitators were arrested for blocking ICE and then had physical altercations with the NYPD who were sent to control the crowd, the NY Immigration Coalition put out a statement where they said. “Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered today to stop ICE from attacking our neighbors. Instead of protecting the residents of our city, the NYPD violently confronted and arrested protesters.”

This comment should illustrate the insanity of this operation. ICE was not “attacking” anyone’s “neighbors” and the protestors were the ones initiating violence trying to force their will on the country, which is which is why they were arrested. 

The NYIC continued, “The violence that occurred today could have been avoided had ICE agents not escalated tensions.” In other words, by not submitting to the unruly mobs demands, ICE was creating “escalated tensions.” They then condemned the NYPD for doing their job, demanded they stop “collaborating” with ICE, and demanded that everyone arrested for attacking NYPD officers be released. 

Now, Democratic Socialists are recruiting 4,000 people to form a rapid response operation in NYC and are being trained to obstruct ICE operations, and not in a friendly way. The DSA holds monthly meetings of their Immigrant Justice Working Group, where these trainings, reportedly attended mostly by privileged, white, Gen Z socialists, are conducted. They are also recruiting people to staff their ICE hotline 24 hours a day.

The agenda of these activists is apparent. This is nothing more than an extension of their failed “Defund the Police” movement that they started pushing in 2020. Only now they believe they can shift a short-lived apprehension over police tactics following the death of George Floyd to a condemnation of ICE tactics, spurred by their direct physical confrontation with ICE officers, to achieve a defunding of ICE and an end to their enforcement of immigration laws. 

It’s clear that it’s mainly chaos the socialists are after. They want to tear down systems most Americans feel safety in. This was their tactic in 2020, confront the police with protests that often got physical and violent, then use the video of the police reacting to the violence of the protestors as the call to defund the police. This is exactly the same playbook they are using now, and what got Renee Good killed. 

What’s more baffling is why are so many mainstream Democrats also attacking ICE and opposing efforts to remove illegal aliens, when stopping illegal immigration used to be a standard Democrat position as recently as the Obama presidency, who was often referred to as the deporter-in-chief for his aggressive approach to following immigration law. 

So what changed? Well, Democrats in blue states have been losing population in recent decades, which equals fewer congressional seats. Democrats fought to include illegal aliens in the census starting in 1980, but the decline in population has not been offset enough with immigrants, legal and illegal. And therefore congressional seats have been moving from blue to red states. 

And this is the real endgame. Democrats are trying to stymie enforcement long enough to get the many millions of illegals the Biden administration allowed to flow into the country, with directions for them to head to places like NYC. If they can destroy ICE and keep those millions of illegals here until 2030, they will alter the census and the balance of power between red and blue states for the next decade. 
Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

 

The New York Governors Race is Heating Up Quickly

BQE Admin on January 16, 2026

Political Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

We are barely halfway through January and the first poll in the race for governor of New York has dropped. Zogby Strategies, a well- known national polling firm conducted an online poll of 844 likely NY voters. What is shows will come as little surprise to most, that head to head Gov. Hochul is up 53% to 39% over the expected Republican nominee, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

It is, of course, ridiculously early in the process. The state conventions will be held in early February, where the constituted party organizations will decide who will automatically be on the primary ballot. Hochul is likely to be the only Democrat to be voted onto the ballot at the convention, and with Rep. Elise Stefanik out of the race the same goes for Blakeman, who should have the Conservative Party line locked up as well.

For Hochul, it remains to be seen what will happen with the Working Families Line. They endorsed Jumaane Williams in 2022, but he withdrew after Hochul won the Democratic Primary that June. Doing otherwise could have jeopardized their ballot status going forward. But the relationship between the left wing WFP and the more moderate Hochul has been very transactional. Hochul just signed legislation benefitting the Party and their ability to control who gets their line. That and her willingness to work with socialist NYC mayor Mamdani should win her their good will in the short term.

Then comes the petition process, where anyone can petition to get on the ballot either against one of the party organizations pick in a primary, or as an independent candidate in the November General Election. And that’s where this could get more interesting.

Should Hochul get another Democrat in the primary, it would most likely be seen as an annoyance for her. She is popular with her party base and has balanced herself fairly well between the socialists and the moderates in the Party. A primary for Blakeman would be a different situation. Blakeman is still not well known outside of Long Island and while a primary could fast-track his introduction, it could also change how he introduces himself to the voters he needs to be competitive come November.

Then there are the third party candidates. They often don’t have a big impact in elections, but in this election that could be different. Perennial candidate Larry Sharpe, who was the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor twice before, is running again. Sharpe has built a following, can raise money, and the new matching funds program could be a huge boost for him. The Zogby poll numbers change dramatically with Sharpe factored in, with Hochul dropping to 49%, Blakeman to 34%, and Sharpe taking 8% of likely voters.

Again, it’s extremely early in the process, and any decent political consultant will tell you that this is why we have campaigns. The next nine months are when the candidates need to make their case to the voters. Some candidates do that very well and the outcome of the race is different than originally expected. And sometimes they do that poorly and get number below what anyone thought possible. The 2025 race for mayor is the perfect example of how that dynamic can change over the course of the year.

Right now Sharpe is taking votes almost equally from both candidates, but again, that can change. If either major party candidate shows any vulnerability or weakness, that will surely be exploited just as Mamdani was able to successfully do so against Cuomo, twice.

This is where politics most resembles professional sports. Sometimes things go exactly as expected, and sometimes we get a huge surprise. But you never really know which until the game is over. Teams wining big at halftime sometimes still lose, and sometimes the leader never looks vulnerable and coasts to victory. It’s the uncertainty that makes it all very interesting and makes the political game fun to play. And fun to write about.

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

Let Hanukkah, the Festival of Light, Bring Clarity

BQE Admin on December 19, 2025

Political Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

This week we celebrate Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Light. While the events that became Hanukkah took place over 2000 years ago, the story has much to offer today as we see bitterly hateful, antisemitic movements growing across the globe.

The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, originally built by King Solomon in the 10th Century BCE, was the center of Judaism for hundreds of years. However, it was also the target for whoever wanted to eliminate the Jews. The first Temple was destroyed around 587 BCE by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II, leading to what was called the Babylonian exile for the Jews from Jerusalem.

Eventually the exiles returned, and under the leadership of King Herrod the Great, the Temple was rebuilt. Fast forward a few hundred years and Jerusalem was part of the Syrian-Greek empire. The Syrians ruled the region, and early leaders had good relations with the Jews, who were thriving in Jerusalem.

But that changed when Antiochus IV became the ruler of Syria in 174 BCE. He decided that a common religion was needed to unify his empire and set out after the Jews to force them to adopt Hellenic culture and religion. Jewish practices like observing the Sabbath and dietary laws were forbidden under penalty of death.

To make a long story brief, after many years of suffering this oppression, a rumor spread that Antiochus was killed in battle against Egypt. The Jews revolted against Menelaus, who Antiochus had installed as the High Priest of the Temple. But the rumors of Antiochus’ death were premature, and when he heard about the revolt he ordered his army to attack the Jews.

Initially, the Syrians had the Jews on the run, but eventually a leader emerged, Judah the Strong, also known as Maccabee, who rallied the Jews and began a guerilla war that eventually defeated a Syrian army of over 40,000 soldiers.

Upon taking back the Temple in 139 BCE, the found only enough oil to light the menorah, or candelabra, for one day. But it takes eight days to make the oil for the lamps. The oil miraculously lasted all eight days until the new oil was ready to provide the Jews with the light they needed for the Temple. And that is why we continue to celebrate Hanukkah to this day, a holiday that marks the retaking of Jerusalem and miracle that lit the Temple that was restored to Jewish control.

Religious leaders will surely expound on the religious significance of these events. Here we discuss the political and cultural significance.

First, we see that what Jews are facing today is not new. We have been dealing with this kind or persecution for thousands of years. And we always not just survive, but we thrive. Jews are tough and are used to fighting against overwhelming odds.

Second, Jews were living in Jerusalem not just before Muslims, but hundreds of years before Islam even existed. The Jewish claim to this as their ancestral homeland is indisputable. Efforts to paint them as colonizers, or Israel as an apartheid state, aren’t just misguided but are the basis of the antisemitic movement that seeks to delegitimize their right to have their own country and their right to exist at all.

Third, NYC is about to swear in a new mayor who does not recognize Israel’s basic right to exist. When confronted he claims to believe they have a right to exist, just not as a Jewish state. However, he does not seem to have the same reservations about the over 50 Muslim countries in the world.

Well, newsflash Mamdani, Israel IS a Jewish state and to change that would change the very fundamental nature of the country. And that seems to disturb the soon-to-be mayor who needs to rule over the city with the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.

Let’s hope Mamdani will not make life for Jews here uncomfortable. And if he does, will the light prevail?

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

Giving Thanks for America and Capitalism

BQE Admin on November 26, 2025

Political Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to reflect on how lucky we are to be living in the greatest country ever created. They say that free-market capitalism is the worst system of governance ever created – except for all the others.

But now our system is under attack, and therefore so is America.

Both were born together, one supporting the other, making this the most successful country in history. We all grew up hearing the story of the Pilgrims and their fateful trip across the ocean to establish one of the first permanent colonies in the new world. What most people don’t know is that this was a business venture, backed by a new investment vehicle called a joint-stock company.

There were three originally, the East India companies established by the Dutch, French and British in the early 1600’s. This was the birth of the modern capitalist system, which established a new way to raise capital for this very risky and speculative venture, exploring the American continent.

Thus, the first modern stock market, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (now Euronext Amsterdam) was established in 1602. It allowed people to buy and sell shares, and collect dividends, on stock in the East India companies. The success is obvious, leading over time to most of the greatest advancements in human history.

As the United States was coming into existence, so was the New York Stock Exchange in 1792, now the world’s dominant exchange. There is a reason both were born at the same time, as one could not have existed without the other.

America’s success was driven by the incredible opportunity for people to pursue their dreams and be the masters of their own destiny. Not every venture was successful, but this system allowed for the experience of failure to be a teacher for future success rather than an epitaph.

The success speaks for itself, even though you probably take much of this for granted. But literally every modern advancement, comfort, and entertainment was created in this environment, where someone would have an idea, or a dream, and have the space to turn that idea, that dream, into a reality.

This was the beginning of an era of average people who led a revolution in human existence. We called them inventors, but they were classic American entrepreneurs, brilliant and determined, following their dreams.

People like Thomas Edison, who invented the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera, the carbon microphone, and developed a way to generate and distribute electricity. Edison was backed by financiers like JP Morgan which led to the creation of the Edison General Electric Company, eventually becoming General Electric, one of the original twelve companies listed on the Dow Jones.

Before Clarence Birdseye had the inspiration for flash freezing food in the 1920’s, people generally only had access to food that was grown or raised locally. He struggled to find buyers for his product, as freezers were not common in American households. Refrigeration had been evolving since the mid 1800’s but was costly.

Introduced by General Electric in 1927, the first refrigerators cost $525, approximately $7500 today, falling to just over $200 ($3000 today) by the 1930’s. Then during the war, as the price continued to drop, the shortage of canned goods helped Birdseye’s products, now owned by General Foods, to catch on, leading to a revolution in frozen food products.

Many uniquely American industries were invented and became wildly popular, including the candy and toy industries. Before Hershey, candy confections were made by hand and solely consumed by the wealthy and royalty. Mars then bought chocolate from Hershey and created M&M’s. Reese bought chocolate from Hershey and invented peanut butter cups.

Before Ruth Handler, dolls were usually stuffed likenesses of babies, there were no action figures or dolls with adult features. Barbie revolutionized the entire doll industry. Board games were not new, but the creation of companies like Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers gave game inventors a way to mass distribute their ideas, leading to some of the best known modern games like Monopoly and Scrabble.

It was the ability for people to be able to take risks and then profit from their success that led to the creation of all these inventions that make modern life what it is, and that only happened because the American system of free-market capitalism is the foundation that allowed it to happen. Capitalism created our world – completely.

At a time when the very foundation of our country and our way of life is under attack by people who only have a track record of failure to point to, we must be clear on what America and its foundation of free-market capitalism has given us, which is surely something we all can be, and should be, thankful for.

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

Yes, You Can Believe the Polls… Mostly

BQE Admin on October 16, 2025

Political Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail. com and @roberthornak on X.

 

When you talk about election polls you hear many different responses. What many Republicans have been saying lately when it comes to the polls for the NYC mayors’ race is that they don’t believe the polls. And that’s a shame.

Polling is not intended to definitively predict the winner of an election, especially months before an election. What polls offer is a snapshot of what the electorate is thinking at that moment in time and insight into what each candidate needs to do to increase their voter appeal.

Candidates can look at these polls and find their strengths and weaknesses, then go about emphasizing their strengths while minimizing or adjusting for their weaknesses. That’s what campaigns are all about.

When this is explained, many people will push back, saying, well what about Trump? Well, if you look at the Trump polls, they were very interesting. In 2016, Trump was trailing Clinton the entire race. But as the election took shape, a phrase was coined in response to what the polls were showing. Voters related to Trump but were not saying they would vote for him. These were increasingly referred to as the hidden Trump voter.

And in the end, while Trump won the electoral college, he did lose the popular vote as the polls predicted.

The 2020 election is now the third rail of politics, but the polls showed Trump down and he ended up losing. And in 2024, Harris was up at the very beginning, but as she stumbled while responding to serious questions, the polls narrowed and Trump took the lead in many national polls and almost every swing state poll.

But for mayoral polling you can look no further than the 2021 election. The first polls that came out after Eric Adams won the primary showed Sliwa with under 30% of voter support. That was where he stayed the entire race, and that was where he finished on election day.

In the Democratic Primary this year, Cuomo was up early and expected to easily win. But that wasn’t where the polls stayed. As each month passed, Mamdani closed the gap, leading to many people questioning Cuomo’s strategy and commitment. As the election drew near the polls were showing a tight race, with two polls actually showing Mamdani pulling ahead.

Now, the polls have all consistently shown Mamdani leading in the 40’s. with Cuomo until recently in the 20’s, and Sliwa in the low teens. That has not changed significantly all through the summer and in the Quinnipiac poll after Adams dropped out, and it showed all his support going to Cuomo, propelling him up to 33% and just over ten points behind Mamdani.

This has clearly become a two- person race, but not between the two people that Sliwa supporters claim it’s between.

Sliwa’s campaign strategy has not changed since June, and neither have his poll numbers. In fact, he’s essentially running the same campaign he did in 2021 that got him 28% of the vote. Disappointed Republicans have gone to Cuomo in large numbers (many by way of Adams), leaving him with approximately half the support he had last time.

The polls have accurately laid out each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses by issue. Mamdani was very strong on a number of issues, like affordability. Cuomo was very strong on a number, like experience. Sliwa has not shown strong on a single issue, even on his signature issue public safety, where voter confidence for him is still weak.

Yes, the polls can be off. It requires an ability to accurately predict who will turn out to vote and asking the right questions from a scientifically random sample of voters. Campaign strategists are required to and often do it well.

The idea that they will be off, and consistently, by 30 points or more is silly to believe. This campaign has always been a race to 40% and Mamdani is in the catbird seat. Cuomo needs to win over Mamdani supporters to have a chance to beat him and be the one who finishes over 40%.

Mamdani’s Words May Finally be Catching Up with Him

BQE Admin on October 10, 2025

By Robert Hornak

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

In politics there are different kinds of lies, and there are different kinds of apologies. Like a craps player in Vegas, it looks like Zohran Mamdani is trying to bet he can cover all the options and still come out a winner.

Everyone knows the typical campaign promise lie. “If elected, I promise I will…” is a very common statement that every politician makes on the campaign trail. Sometimes they deliver, and sometimes they don’t. When they don’t, their opposition says they lied. But let’s be honest, nobody can pass a bill alone. You still need a legislative majority and the chief executive to sign the bill.

That’s really a promise to “try” to make something happen. Mamdani has made many of those, which many people are claiming he’s lying about. For most he will need to City Council to support him, and there’s little reason to think they won’t, but for some he needs Albany to approve his plans.

A perfect example is his promise to make buses free. The city doesn’t control the buses, the MTA does. It’s a state authority with a governing board appointed mostly by the governor. Control is in the hands of Albany.

Mamdani, currently a state legislator, could push a bill in support of this to show he’s serious. Of course, last time there was a bill to create free bus lines, Mamdani chose not to support it and voted against the budget deal in protest. He bailed on the previous attempt to make this happen, possibly burning his political capital on this, which may be why he doesn’t push for it now.

Mamdani has made many promises about his plans, and they almost all require new funding. Around $10 Billion in new funding. When called out for not having serious plans to pay for all this, he claims he will just tax the rich. Another proposal controlled by Albany, and once again a bill which he has not pushed in Albany to pave the way and show he’s serious.

Now, as the money to fund all his plans appears less sure, he now admits he might need a “plan B” to fund his agenda. When pushed on what he will do if he’s unable to secure the funds through new taxes he responded, “If this money is funded by the additional taxes or it’s funded by a better-than-expected (tax) assessment, or it’s funded by a pot of money that wasn’t previously spoken about, or savings that have come in, then the most important thing is that it’s funded.”

That’s a clever response, but it shows he really has no idea how he’s going to pay for all his promises, and he knows it. And many people are zeroing in on this to accuse him of more lying.

But the really damaging kind of lie is the one he told when questioned about tweeting, “We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” He said that he would apologize for saying that, but then no apology ever came. Saying you’re going to apologize is not an apology.

And there are the different kind of apologies. The one where you say I feel really bad for what I said, and there’s the one where you say I feel really bad that you were offended by what I said. The second kind is really a non-apology.

But Mamdani has done neither. He wants to create a new kind, the pretend apology. He claims to be apologizing to officers that he speaks to, one-on-one. There are around 33,000 uniformed officers in the NYPD, and every one of them deserves an apology from Mamdani if he wants to lead them next year.

But he won’t, because he was lying to get out of an uncomfortable situation, claiming he would do something he had no intention of doing. And we can assume that is because he truly believes what he said. Or worse, is afraid to anger his many followers who believe it.

The lies are starting to pile up for Mamdani, and he’s not even mayor yet. With less than four weeks until election day, will this catch up with him, or will he skate by to a win, only to be exposed for all this next year?

Political Whisperer: New York’s Threat to Re-Redraw Congressional Lines

BQE Admin on August 12, 2025

By Robert Hornak

One of the great traditions of American politics is for both political parties to try their best to gerrymander the lines of the political districts in their states. There is nothing new about this or unique to either party. 

There has been recent attention brought to this process, sparked by two recent Supreme Court decisions. In 2019, the court ruled that issues related to partisan gerrymandering – the process where district lines are drawn to favor one party over the other – are “beyond the reach of the federal courts” changing how past voting rights cases, that advantaged democrats over republicans, would be considered by the court. 

Then in 2024, the SCOTUS ruled in favor of a South Carolina district that was challenged as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Writing for the majority, Justice Alito stated, “inferring bad faith based on the racial effects of a political gerrymander in a jurisdiction in which race and partisan preference are very closely correlated” would no longer be accepted as a basis for challenge by the court, recognizing the difference between political and racial gerrymandering.

Now there is talk about drawing new lines in certain red states where partisan gerrymandering in the past had been thwarted by the courts as being racially, not politically based. Texas is leading the charge, looking to redraw their congressional lines to increase partisan advantage, as democrats have already done in many states, looking to fight fire with fire. 

Democrats, naturally, are up in arms, screaming about how unethical this effort is, while trying to cover their Cheshire cat grin for having done it themselves so successfully in states like Illinois, California, and Massachusetts. 

But nowhere were they more blatant about this than in New York. In 2014, NY voters approved a referendum to make the redistricting process “a fair and readily transparent process by which to redraw the lines of state legislative and congressional districts” according to the NYC Independent Redistricting Commission. The newly created IRC would draw the lines of new districts with strict constitutional limitations on gerrymandering to advantage either political party. However, the legislature must approve the final maps, a legislature now dominated by democrats. 

Unlike Texas, the NY Constitution mandates that district lines be redrawn once and only once a decade. The IRC submitted their constitutionally required plan for redistricting for the 2022 elections, but they were not gerrymandered enough for the Democrats in Albany. 

Unable to get the 2/3 vote required to pass their own gerrymandered lines, the process was handed to the courts. A non-partisan expert was engaged and the court set the new lines. Lines that were generally seen as fair by just about everyone – except the Democrats in power who were highly displeased that Republicans gained three seats that election. 

So, committed to finding a better way to gerrymander within constitutional boundaries, Democrats pledged to draw new lines for the 2024 election. And they did. Republicans, who had 11 seats after the 2022 election but lost one in the special election to replace George Santos, went from 10 seats to 7 after 2024.

So now Texas is effectively doing what NY did just a year ago. But not to be outdone, NY Democrats are declaring themselves the masters of gerrymandering and telling Texas Republicans you ain’t seen nothing yet. 

While Democrats around the country yell foul and claim that Texas is violating the constitution (although without challenging Texas’ authority in court and with Texas creating three new majority Hispanic districts), NY Democrats are threatening action and pledging to once again redraw NY’s lines and gerrymander them even more with the explicit goal of eliminating five more NY Republicans. 

Democratic Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said very bluntly, “We can come up with lines that comply with constitutional criteria that still accomplish our goal” just as they did in 2024. Only one thing stands in their way, the NYS Constitution. They need to change the state constitution to allow mid-decade redistricting. All this depends on a positive outcome for their referendum in a future election with an electorate that has already expressed their disapproval of partisan gerrymandering.

Robert Hornak is a veteran political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

Political Whisperer: Mamdani Derangement Gripping NYC is Justified

BQE Admin on July 14, 2025

By Robert Hornak

It’s official, Zohran Mamdani’s primary win is unnerving many in NYC and dividing Democrats into two very distinct camps. 

First are the Mamdani defenders. With Mamdani derangement syndrome appearing to overtake a majority of New Yorkers there is a sudden onslaught of opinion columns and social media posts aimed at trying to calm everyone down. 

They are spinning the story that Mamdani isn’t so bad. Sure, he’s said some negative things about Israel, but that’s just politics they claim. When confronted on his belief system he responded saying that he is opposed to hate crimes and would allocate additional funds to fighting them. Of course, that’s not a denial but it was enough for many of his defenders to hang their hat on. 

They are also claiming that all his proposals for free stuff are nothing new, they have either been done before or they’ve been campaigned on before but not enacted. While intended to be a ringing endorsement of the Mamdani agenda, claiming to be just more of the same failed policies that have brought NYC closer to the bad old days, and making this the city of exodus, driving out more people in search of a better life than anywhere else in the country, doesn’t seem like the best sales technique, but again, they need to say something to make him seem acceptable. 

De Blasio enacted three rent freezes in eight years, and that worked out so well we saw rents hit all-time highs. So why not double down and push for a four year freeze? That should make things even better. Free buses? Well we already have discounts for certain riders, that’s the same as free for everyone, isn’t it? 

Tax the rich? Well, that’s surely not a new one. But that is controlled by Albany, as even a new member of the Assembly should know. And, of course, that is the Democratic Party mantra, and they have successfully complicated the tax code to try to get more and more from the successful, with no amount ever seeming to be enough.

That leads to the argument that Mamdani may not fully align with traditional socialists, but rather adopts the label strategically. While he has made statements suggesting support for public control over certain industries—an idea rooted in socialist and even communist frameworks—that alone doesn’t necessarily make him a communist.

It’s easy to see how his rhetoric may come across as appealing or idealistic. But his critics argue that when a politician shares their worldview, it’s worth taking them at their word.

Concerns have also been raised about his positions on Israel. Critics point to his support for the BDS movement, which many believe unfairly singles out Israel. These decisions have drawn serious criticism and prompted questions about his broader worldview.

Proposals like free bus service, universal childcare, and rent freezes may not amount to full-fledged socialism, but critics argue they reflect a lack of fiscal planning and a limited roadmap for how to realistically move New York City forward. The cost of these initiatives remains largely unanswered, leaving doubts about their sustainability.

Then there’s the fact that Mamdani continues to embrace the label of “socialist,” and has publicly expressed views critical of extreme wealth, private property, and market capitalism. These ideas, while resonant with some progressive voters, are viewed by others as impractical or even concerning.

Some argue that dismissing Mamdani as merely holding controversial views on Israel or as a moderate progressive downplays the impacts of his rhetoric and policy positions. They believe his track record speaks for itself.

But he does have a warm smile and projects a youthful exuberance that many voters find attractive and they will ignore all the warning signs of the coming disaster for promises of free stuff delivered with a warm, engaging smile. Whether the enthusiasm is enough to outweigh skepticism about his policies remains to be seen.

Robert Hornak is a professional political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

Did Hell Just Freeze Over in New York City?

BQE Admin on July 2, 2025

Politcal Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

What everyone thought was unthinkable happened last Tuesday, a 33-year old self-proclaimed socialist with a resume thinner than tissue paper won the nomination for Mayor of the City of New York. 

By all accounts, the perceived front runner, former governor Andrew Cuomo, ran a lackluster, uninspired campaign that he could have phoned in. In contrast, Mamdani ran a campaign that was vibrant and engaging, with a youthful, attractive candidate who managed to connect with many voters. He stood out, in many ways, from the rest of the pack. 

Cuomo had all the establishment support. The Democratic County organizations, the big, powerful unions, and the business and real estate communities. It seemed unthinkable that Democrats could lose this election to a back-bench Assemblyman with no real world experience. But that’s exactly what happened.

Now, everyone who thinks this could be an existential threat to the future of the city is in a state of total panic. 

The conventional wisdom – yes the same wisdom that thought Cuomo was an easy winner – says that the field must be cleared now, and rally around one candidate to take on Mamdani head to head. 

The problem with that is obvious. Why should anyone trust the pick of the conventional thinkers after they got the primary so incredibly wrong? 

Some Republicans think that their nominee, Curtis Sliwa, should be the one. But many more people seem to think that failed and disgraced incumbent mayor Eric Adams is the pick to get behind. Cuomo is also still running as an independent, just like Adams, but is seen as a loser now after his poor primary performance.

After the first round of voting, Mamdani was at 43.5% with 432,000 votes. Cuomo was a distant second at 36.4% with 361,000 votes. That’s extremely embarrassing for someone once elected to serve as governor three times. Most of the Cuomo primary support seems to be jumping to Adams, with the County organizations still undecided on how to deal with such a perilous nominee. 

It seems clear the better way to go, as Republicans often say, is through competition. Eight candidates are on the ballot for mayor. And six appear to be real, including Mamdani, Cuomo, Adams, Sliwa, and two other independent candidates, powerful lawyer Jim Walden, a democrat, and successful biotech entrepreneur Joseph Hernandez, a republican. 

Nobody is dropping out now. That’s clear, no matter how much handwringing is done by the conventional thinkers who believe they know the best way to win again. So, let’s watch this race progress over the next four months, which is plenty of time for the other five candidates to make their case to the voters. Let’s see who resonates, who connects with the voters, who can either overcome all their negative baggage or make an incredible first impression as an exciting, new face to convince the voters they are the best one to run the city. 

Then, come mid-October, we will see who’s in the best position to win and rally everyone around that one candidate to beat Mamdani.

That’s the only way to beat someone with charisma and over 430,000 votes at the start to count on. It’s no guarantee to work, but much better than having one choice shoved down our throats now that nobody can agree on. 

And, of course, we always have the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ option. This will add a new and looming dimension to the governor’s race next year. Whoever is governor, should Mamdani win, will have the power to remove him, as we learned after the Adams indictment. 

Should Mamdani do any of the things he has pledged, allow criminals to run free, impede federal authorities arresting illegal immigrants, or creating an international incident trying to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in deference to what he refers to as “internation law,” he can be removed from office. 

In what could be a competitive race for governor, a Mamdani mayoralty could be what tilts the scale for the first Republican governor since 2002.

Robert Hornak is a professional political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

The Nuclear Power Revolution Reaches New York

BQE Admin on July 2, 2025

Politcal Whisperer

By Robert Hornak

You know an important election is approaching when elected representatives abandon the long-standing political ideology of their party and actually take actions that many people consider long overdue. 

That very thing just happened. Gov. Kathy Hochul, despite generally strong opposition from democrats, just announced that she has directed The New York Power Authority, the utility owned by the state, to build a new nuclear reactor in upstate NY. This new facility will provide approximately half the energy that the 2.0 GW Indian Point facility provided before it was closed.

The closing of Indian Point is considered by most people to be the perfect storm of policy failure. It was ordered by the Cuomo-Hochul administration with no plan to make up for the loss of 25% of the supply being provided by Indian Point to NYC. The fallout was the loss of 1,000 good-paying jobs at the facility and economic activity at surrounding local businesses. 

Ultimately, three new natural gas fired power plants were built that replaced 1.8 GW of the energy lost. Nevertheless, energy costs in NY have been skyrocketing as demand grows. Rolling blackouts have become a constant summer concern as we just witnessed in south Queens where 300,000 homes lost power during a summer heatwave. 

Meanwhile, other states have embraced the new nuclear revolution and the new technologies that have been created in recent decades that are far superior to the tech used when most of our current nuclear facilities were built over 50 years ago. Just as we’ve witnessed with the space program, nobody is looking to use the old 1950’s tech that Indian Point was created with.

Hochul made sure to drive that point home in her announcement, proclaiming, “This is not your grandparents’ nuclear reactor. You’re not going to see this in a movie starring Jane Fonda,” in a reference to Fonda’s 1970’s movie The China Syndrome that nearly killed the nuclear power industry by fantastically fictionalizing the worst case scenario of a nuclear reactor meltdown. This was in spite of the reality that we never had a nuclear plant failure or a single death associated with nuclear energy in the U.S.

In recent years many states have realized the insanity of denying the potential of nuclear power to meet future energy needs and have overturned bans on new nuclear plants. Texas, struggling with its recent self-inflicted energy shortfall from a reliance on new, unreliable wind and solar plants, has just approved a $350 million fund to build new nuclear plants. 

Some of our largest tech companies, including Amazon and Google, who have incredible energy needs to power server farms have also begun investing in nuclear energy to power their operations.

And, of course, there were the recent Executive Orders signed by President Trump to speed up the process for the Nuclear Regulatory Agency to approve new permits and generally make building new nuclear reactors much faster. 

All this is welcome news to most New Yorkers who have been hit with massive electricity bills in recent years that are making living in NY unaffordable for many people. Crushingly high energy bills are just one more reason that there has been an exodus of people from New York to lower cost of living, low tax states like Florida.

But while welcome news, this just scratches the surface of the problem and the need. Many areas upstate are anxious to be the site for this new plant and the many good paying jobs and economic activity it will bring. Unemployment upstate has been abysmal and the exodus out of NY has hit upstate the hardest. 

This, however, should be a first step to making NY a leader in building a nuclear powered future. Communities all across upstate would be thrilled to get a reactor that would revive their local economy while providing desperately needed, reliable and affordable energy for downstate. 

This would be a win-win for everyone. Will Hochul embrace this long overdue win for New Yorkers and build on it or will this just be a one-time election season stunt? Maybe the pressure of reelection will make this more than just a gimmick. Time will tell.

Robert Hornak is a professional political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @roberthornak on X.

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