If there is one thing people are beginning to realize about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, it is the abject hypocrisy of the socialism he embraced.
Like all socialists before him, there are two sets of rules: Those for him and those for everyone else.
The latest example involves the heatwave currently baking the country, including New York City. A new report raised questions about whether City Hall was following the same demand Mamdani made of the millions of New Yorkers.
The mayor has been encouraging New Yorkers to conserve electricity by adjusting their thermostats to a toasty 78 degrees to ease pressure on the electric grid.
But according to a report by the New York Post, temperatures inside City Hall fell well below the 78-degree thermostat setting.
Reporters from the newspaper used an infrared thermometer to measure temperatures at 20 locations inside City Hall and other municipal buildings they were able to access.
The report said all but five of those locations measured below 78 degrees – and in many cases, well below 78 degrees.
Some areas reportedly became significantly colder as the afternoon progressed.
The newspaper said temperatures near the mayor’s office measured about 77 degrees around noon before dropping to approximately 74 degrees later in the day.
The Rotunda inside City Hall reportedly fell to 64 degrees.
One of the coldest readings came from the air flowing out of an air-conditioning vent in the mayor’s press radio room, where the thermometer reportedly registered 54 degrees.
The report said the CityStore inside the Manhattan Municipal Building measured 64 degrees, while temperatures in the Governor’s Room near the mayor’s office also dropped to around 74 degrees.
The controversy comes after Mamdani urged New Yorkers on Wednesday to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher to help reduce strain on the electrical grid as temperatures climbed toward triple digits.
“Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment,” Mamdani wrote on X.
The recommendation drew criticism from political opponents, who questioned whether city officials were following the same guidance.
“Maybe the mayor shouldn’t tell New Yorkers to sacrifice their comfort if he isn’t willing to do the same,” City Council Minority Leader David Carr, R-Staten Island, told the newspaper.
The New York Post also reported that while many offices were heavily air-conditioned, security personnel and police officers working in hallways and building lobbies remained in temperatures exceeding 80 degrees.
According to the report, elevators inside one municipal building reached 89 degrees, and some officers were not provided with fans.
Not every city office was reportedly cooler than the mayor’s recommended setting.
The Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, which the newspaper said was unoccupied at the time, reportedly measured 81 degrees.
Mamdani spokesman Jeremy Edwards defended the administration’s practices, telling the New York Post that “The Mayor set the temperature at Gracie Mansion to 78 degrees yesterday afternoon.”
Edwards also said City Hall’s thermostat settings had been adjusted to the recommended level later Thursday.
The debate unfolded as approximately 5,000 Con Edison customers in the Bronx temporarily lost power during the heat wave.
The utility said it intentionally shut off electricity to some customers while crews completed repairs in an effort to prevent more widespread outages.
Mamdani’s recommendation was not unprecedented.
Previous New York City mayors, including Eric Adams, Bill de Blasio and Rudy Giuliani, issued similar requests during periods of extreme heat.
The U.S. Department of Energy also recommends setting thermostats between 75 and 78 degrees during the summer months to conserve energy and reduce electricity demand, The New York Post reported.
Still, the report has given critics fresh ammunition as they question whether City Hall was practicing the same energy-saving measures it encouraged New Yorkers to adopt.
