Boca Raton (Fla.) Mayor Scott Singer didn’t wait long before sharing his initial frustrations with newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Singer had some advice for Mamdani’s new constituents.
Mamdani, who turned 34 in October, was sworn in on Thursday, January 1. He replaces Eric Adams, who served as New York City’s mayor beginning in 2022 but withdrew his candidacy this past September.
Originally from Uganda, Mamdani centered his campaign around proposed initiatives aimed at helping the local economy, including fare-free city buses, city-owned grocery stores, and more affordable housing. Although he is officially a Democrat, Mamdani announced on Thursday that he intends to govern as a “democratic socialist.”
Those words clearly caught Singer’s attention, and he called Mamdani out in an X post on Friday afternoon.
“What New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will usher in is exactly what millions of South Florida residents fled from communist regimes in Cuba and elsewhere,” Singer wrote.
The “warmth” of collectivism that always requires coercion and force.
How many dead over the past 100 years due to collectivist ideologies? https://t.co/hWPzrO0GxG
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 1, 2026
“My in-laws fled Soviet rule for America a generation ago,” he continued. “Our family and their life experiences offer firsthand knowledge into the negative real consequences of the flawed worldview that Mamdani and other socialists offer.”
Singer also took issue with Mamdani’s comments about how he and his administration would “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” The term “collectivism” is often associated with communism, as it prioritizes the group over the individual.
“Americans have been defined by rugged individualism, work ethic, and our constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Singer wrote. “New Yorkers beware.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also criticized Mamdani’s comments on X.
What New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will usher in is exactly what millions of South Florida residents fled from communist regimes in Cuba and elsewhere.
My in-laws fled Soviet rule for America a generation ago. Our family and their life experiences offer firsthand knowledge…
— Scott Singer (@ScottSingerUSA) January 2, 2026
“The ‘warmth’ of collectivism always requires coercion and force,” DeSantis wrote. “How many dead over the past 100 years due to collectivist ideologies?”
When responding to DeSantis, one X user shared a picture reading, “If you take $500 from a worker and give $100 to five lazy people, you lose one vote but gain five. … It’s the biggest pyramid scheme in history, and it’s called socialism.”
Singer, a Harvard graduate, has been Boca Raton’s mayor since 2018. He was reelected in 2020 and again in 2023. His comments stand out given the number of New Yorkers who not only vacation in Florida but also spend their winters there. Additionally, there has been a recent increase in New Yorkers moving to Florida; a 2022 New York Post report found that nearly 6,000 New Yorkers switched their driver’s licenses to Florida licenses that month.
We’ll see whether Singer and Mamdani have an opportunity to connect soon, particularly given the Florida-to-New York pipeline.
