Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
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February 10, 2026
Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
If successful, his policies might offer a new nationwide playbook.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
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Kreyol Flavor owner Cursy Saint Surin walks with Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani inside of Kreyol Flavor as he takes a tour of the neighborhood on October 25, 2025 in the East Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Mamdani was joined by Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and City Councilmember Farah Louis.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
For the right, few words are more beloved than “deregulation.” GOP candidates often spend their campaigns raging against the boogeyman of the regulatory bureaucracy, and once they take office, right-wing policymakers use their power to slash at the guardrails protecting Americans’ health, environment, and wallets. In the earliest days of his term, President Donald Trump managed to one-up even the usual Republican enthusiasm for red tape-cutting, assigning federal agencies the ridiculous and arbitrary target of repealing 10 regulations for each new one they enact.
In recent weeks, however, a far more judicious form of deregulation has found a surprising champion: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. No, the new mayor isn’t making a shocking rightward turn—instead, his administration is focused on lightening the administrative load for New York’s more than 183,000 small businesses.
Progressives have long and justly condemned the deleterious effects of mega-corporations like Walmart and Amazon, whose tax dodging, union busting, and cost-cutting tactics undermine market competition and workers’ rights. But Mamdani is pairing leftist critique of big business with deregulatory measures that bolster smaller enterprises. If successful, these policies will help give mom-and-pop shops a fighting chance against the corporate behemoths—and may also offer a new playbook for progressives nationwide.
After declaring in his inaugural address that he would “free small business owners from the shackles of bloated bureaucracy,” Mamdani signed an executive order earlier this month to do just that. It directs city agencies to comb through the more than 6,000 rules governing small businesses and identify opportunities to simplify regulations and reduce the myriad associated fees and fines.
It’s a timely move that could strengthen the small businesses at the heart of America’s largest city. Though New York is the nation’s financial capital and home to more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other American locale, 89 percent of its businesses have fewer than …
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Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
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Current Issue
February 10, 2026
Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
If successful, his policies might offer a new nationwide playbook.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
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X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
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Kreyol Flavor owner Cursy Saint Surin walks with Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani inside of Kreyol Flavor as he takes a tour of the neighborhood on October 25, 2025 in the East Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Mamdani was joined by Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and City Councilmember Farah Louis.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
For the right, few words are more beloved than “deregulation.” GOP candidates often spend their campaigns raging against the boogeyman of the regulatory bureaucracy, and once they take office, right-wing policymakers use their power to slash at the guardrails protecting Americans’ health, environment, and wallets. In the earliest days of his term, President Donald Trump managed to one-up even the usual Republican enthusiasm for red tape-cutting, assigning federal agencies the ridiculous and arbitrary target of repealing 10 regulations for each new one they enact.
In recent weeks, however, a far more judicious form of deregulation has found a surprising champion: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. No, the new mayor isn’t making a shocking rightward turn—instead, his administration is focused on lightening the administrative load for New York’s more than 183,000 small businesses.
Progressives have long and justly condemned the deleterious effects of mega-corporations like Walmart and Amazon, whose tax dodging, union busting, and cost-cutting tactics undermine market competition and workers’ rights. But Mamdani is pairing leftist critique of big business with deregulatory measures that bolster smaller enterprises. If successful, these policies will help give mom-and-pop shops a fighting chance against the corporate behemoths—and may also offer a new playbook for progressives nationwide.
After declaring in his inaugural address that he would “free small business owners from the shackles of bloated bureaucracy,” Mamdani signed an executive order earlier this month to do just that. It directs city agencies to comb through the more than 6,000 rules governing small businesses and identify opportunities to simplify regulations and reduce the myriad associated fees and fines.
It’s a timely move that could strengthen the small businesses at the heart of America’s largest city. Though New York is the nation’s financial capital and home to more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other American locale, 89 percent of its businesses have fewer than …
Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
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Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
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Current Issue
February 10, 2026
Mayor Mamdani Offers a Progressive Vision for Small Businesses
If successful, his policies might offer a new nationwide playbook.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Share
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X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
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Kreyol Flavor owner Cursy Saint Surin walks with Democratic Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani inside of Kreyol Flavor as he takes a tour of the neighborhood on October 25, 2025 in the East Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Mamdani was joined by Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and City Councilmember Farah Louis.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
For the right, few words are more beloved than “deregulation.” GOP candidates often spend their campaigns raging against the boogeyman of the regulatory bureaucracy, and once they take office, right-wing policymakers use their power to slash at the guardrails protecting Americans’ health, environment, and wallets. In the earliest days of his term, President Donald Trump managed to one-up even the usual Republican enthusiasm for red tape-cutting, assigning federal agencies the ridiculous and arbitrary target of repealing 10 regulations for each new one they enact.
In recent weeks, however, a far more judicious form of deregulation has found a surprising champion: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. No, the new mayor isn’t making a shocking rightward turn—instead, his administration is focused on lightening the administrative load for New York’s more than 183,000 small businesses.
Progressives have long and justly condemned the deleterious effects of mega-corporations like Walmart and Amazon, whose tax dodging, union busting, and cost-cutting tactics undermine market competition and workers’ rights. But Mamdani is pairing leftist critique of big business with deregulatory measures that bolster smaller enterprises. If successful, these policies will help give mom-and-pop shops a fighting chance against the corporate behemoths—and may also offer a new playbook for progressives nationwide.
After declaring in his inaugural address that he would “free small business owners from the shackles of bloated bureaucracy,” Mamdani signed an executive order earlier this month to do just that. It directs city agencies to comb through the more than 6,000 rules governing small businesses and identify opportunities to simplify regulations and reduce the myriad associated fees and fines.
It’s a timely move that could strengthen the small businesses at the heart of America’s largest city. Though New York is the nation’s financial capital and home to more Fortune 500 headquarters than any other American locale, 89 percent of its businesses have fewer than …
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