New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a press conference on Universal Childcare at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling – March 3, 2026, in New York City. Mamdani was joined by Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., and Kamar H. Samuels, Chancellor of New York City Public Schools. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has been in office less than seven months and he’s repeatedly demonstrated that he lacks both compassion and an understanding of how his policies affect others.
He also lacks the courage to confront his own failings.
However, a film was released 87 years ago that may hold the key to saving both his reputation and the Big Apple.
The latest example where Mamdani demonstrated a lack of intellect was when he announced his intention to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal” when he makes his planned visit to New York City in September.
“There is an active conversation with our legal department in seeing what the prospects are we have here in our Municipality,” he said over the weekend.
Common sense should have told him that the idea is preposterous. First of all, as a head of state, Netanyahu enjoys diplomatic immunity, as Mike Waltz, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations made clear.
“Mayor Mamdani. Here’s why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York City during UN General Assembly is not going to happen,” Waltz began.
“The United States is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the International Criminal Court. Also, “the UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government. Head-of-state immunity applies, and federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes,” Waltz added.
Besides, defending your own country against terrorism is not a “war crime.”
In addition, even had Netanyahu committed “war crimes,” the city, county, and state of New York lacks jurisdiction, because he committed no crimes within those areas.
Mamdani also indicted that he wants to empty jails, under the belief that “violence is an artificial construct.”
He should tell that to a roomful of crime victims and see how far that gets him.
The 18th century Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith once observed that “Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.”
Compassion would dictate that society should protect victims of crimes, and punish the lawbreakers — especially the violent lawbreakers.
In early May Mamdani announced that five new schools will open in the fall across the Bronx and Queens.
They are the Academy of Cultural Excellence, Bronx School of Arts & Exploration, The Bronx School of Hip-Hop, Queens Academy for Innovative Learning and West Q Elementary School.
In an age where honor students enter college functionally illiterate, do we really need a school of hip-hop?
This indicates a lack of intellect to even consider this, and a lack of compassion for the students lacking the basic tools to enter and succeed in life.
Lack of compassion, lack of intellect, and lack of courage. “The Wizard of Oz,” a classic film released in 1939, may prove to be the answer to Mamdani’s shortcomings.
In the film, the Tin Man lacked a heart. The wonderful Wizard of Oz gave him one.
The Scarecrow lacked a brain. The Wizard provided one for him.
And the Cowardly Lion lacked courage, and the Wizard gave him courage.
Mamdani should find his way to the Land of Oz, make an appointment to see the Wizard and ask for those very things — a brain, a heart, and courage.
Finally, while he’s in the magical Land of Oz, if he should run across a pair of ruby slippers, he may want to put them on, click the heels three times and say “there’s no place like home.”
Uganda, Mamdani’s place of birth and his true home, is calling to him, and New York City would be far better off if they were rid of him.
Of course this is all fantasy, but Uganda is not. Mamdani should return to his place of birth and leave New York the hell alone. And yes, he can do that through the magic of commercial air travel.
America would prosper better without him.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He’s also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read more Michael Dorstewitz Insider articles — Click Here Now.
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