Having now been elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani will have to change his ways if he wants to be effective in City Hall when his term begins on Jan. 1., less than two months away.

To start, and most personally, Mamdani will have to drop the pretense that he doesn’t foster antisemitism through his positions, stemming from his monomaniacal obsession on Israel being the source of all the world’s problems. This is not about his support for Palestinians, but his angry hatred for Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.

While he said he would fight antisemitism during his victory speech last Tuesday night and on Wednesday he joined the disgust and outrage at a Brooklyn yeshiva and Jewish cemetery being vandalized with Nazi swastikas, he must do more.

He has to renounce his support for the antisemitic BDS Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement targeting Israel and he has to denounce, not just discourage, slogans that call for the killing of Jews and the destruction of the Jewish state such as “Globalize the Intifada” and “from the river to the sea.”

When asked about Israel and BDS, Mamdani says he wants compliance with international law, but he better comply with New York and U.S. law concerning any boycotts. The same goes for his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, a patently illegal act.

Mamdani must rethink his oversimplified stance that Israel shouldn’t have preferences based on “religion” because Judaism is both a religious and a national identity.

Mamdani needs to stop his attacks on Jewish nationalism, Zionism, the only nationalism that he makes a point about opposing, and which forms the core of his beliefs. His anti-Zionism is not just about countering the actions of this Israeli government, but that there shouldn’t be any Israeli government, that there shouldn’t be any Israel.

Anti-Zionism is Mamdani’s passion, not affordability, or buses or child care or rent. This has always been the most important issue to him, what brought him into politics, and he will have to set it aside because by being such a committed and vocal advocate against the existence of a Jewish state fuels antisemitic feelings and antisemitic actions by others, including hate crimes, such as the swastikas in Brooklyn.

Mamdani will also have to give up his hopes for billions in tax increases to fund his programs for child care and to eliminate the fare on buses. The billions he would need every year can only come from Albany, and Gov. Hochul is rightly opposed.

Mamdani just doesn’t want higher personal income taxes on the wealthy, he also wants a higher corporate tax rate, which is a levy on the businesses where the non-wealthy work. By adding to their costs, these employers may respond by reducing payrolls (layoffs and hiring freezes) or by raising their prices (contributing to inflation and higher expenses for New Yorkers), which hurts the same people Mamdani says he’s trying to help.

While universal public child care is a worthy goal, extending the successful pre-K and 3-K the city has rolled out, it is a major new expenditure by the government. At least Mamdani smartly now says he’s not wedded to the tax increases as a funding stream, though the money has to come from somewhere.

His other big expensive program, wiping out the bus fare, just won’t work, says the chairman of the MTA. Agreeing with that is Marc Molinaro, head of the Federal Transit Administration, who wrote in the Daily News Tuesday that getting rid of fares would endanger funds from Washington. So much for “free” buses.

— The New York Daily News

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The Gophers volleyball program’s 2026 recruiting class features a distinct Minnesota flavor.

Two of Minnesota’s three signees on National Signing Day on Wednesday hail from the metro — Centennial middle blocker Elena Hoecke and Eagan libero Madi Kraft.

The third signee is outside hitter Makenna Crosson from San Jose, Calif.

Hoecke just won the 2025 Minnesota Ms. Baden award given to the state’s top senior player while leading the Cougars to state. She was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Region 7 Player of the Year.

Hoecke — who touts a lengthy record of national team experience — hit .412 this season at Centennial with 338 kills, 189 digs and 103 blocks.

“Elena’s blocking eye work, ability to attack off one foot and her physical effort in transition will stand out immediately,” Gophers coach Keegan Cook said in a release. “Her international experiences with the USA National Team Programs have accelerated her growth. Her inner drive, ability to communicate at a high level and durability are just some of her intangible strengths as an athlete.”

In a release, Hoecke said she chose Minnesota because of the program’s “amazing history and winning culture.” She noted she wants to be an All-American who helps the Gophers win Big Ten and national championships.

“I want to play at the highest level and this program gives me the opportunity to do so,” Hoecke said. “I know my coaches and teammates are going to push me to become the best volleyball player and person I can be. Minnesota has a great winning history, and I want to help continue that legacy.”

Eagan senior libero Madi Kraft poses for a photo at a Breakdown Sports Media shoot in Apple Valley on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Jason Wachter / Breakdown Sports Media)

Kraft joined Hoecke as a Ms. Baden finalist. She holds the Eagan record for most career digs (1,788), no small feat for a historic program.

This fall, the senior recorded 350 digs, 50 aces and a 2.2 passer rating for the Wildcats.

Kraft noted she’s followed the Gophers since she was little, adding Minnesota “is home to me.”

“Madi’s poise, determination and vocal leadership are easy to observe,” Cook said in a release. “Over the course of her high school and club career, Madi established herself as one of the top liberos in the state of Minnesota. Her toughness and love of competition are just two of the reasons we are looking forward to getting her into the gym this winter.”

Related: Meet Gophers volleyball commit Madi Kraft

Crosson has 430 kills in her still ongoing high school season.

The Gophers said it’s a top-15 recruiting class nationally, according to multiple media outlets. All three commits are expected to join the program in January.

“Their competitive character and passion to learn stands out alongside their many accomplishments,” Cook said. “We’re eager to get them into the gym and thankful for their commitment to start their journeys this winter.”

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“New York needs a governor who respects the will of the vast majority of voters who want climate action, and whose elected representatives already passed climate laws on their behalf.”

Climate activists rallying earlier this week against Hochul’s approval of the NESE pipeline project. (via Climate Families NYC)

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has positioned herself as fighting Donald Trump’s lawlessness to defend New York. And some people are buying it: Time Magazine even featured her in their “Climate 100” list.

But as a climate organizer who has spent years pushing the governor to lead on climate, I know the truth: When it comes to climate in 2025, Hochul is no better than Trump, showing herself willing to violate state law, ignore the will of voters and cave to his demands for more destructive, expensive fossil fuel pipelines.

Throughout the past year, Gov. Hochul has openly shared her intention to subvert the state’s democratically passed landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), even explicitly talking about “changing the law.”  In practice, she is ignoring it: She has refused to release most of the regulations required to kickstart the Cap and Invest program recommended for implementation of the CLCPA.

Indeed, an Ulster County Supreme Court judge recently ruled that Hochul was in violation of the CLCPA by failing to release regulations to implement the law. Hochul announced plans to appeal the ruling in response. Meanwhile, the governor has also signaled her openness to delaying implementation of the All Electric Buildings Act, passed in 2022, a key pathway to meeting the emissions reduction targets in the CLCPA. 

As if violating the CLCPA and delaying implementation of legislation that already passed wasn’t bad enough, Hochul still has not signed a 2025 bill repealing the “100 foot rule” and just last week approved the Williams-NESE pipeline at Trump’s behest. This pipeline already went through a legal, democratic review process and was rejected in 2020. Thousands of New Yorkers submitted comments against the pipeline, and New Yorkers have shown up at rallies and marches across the city calling on her to reject it. 

But from her backtrack on congestion pricing (even before Trump attacked it) to her willingness to greenlight Trump’s pipelines and ignore state law, Hochul has shown she doesn’t care what voters in New York State want or think, nor does she care about following the laws enacted by our representatives. It is outrageous that she pretends to fight Trumpism while deciding she herself is above the law. 

Hochul backtracks, delays and hedges under the guise of “affordability,” but a recent report from the New York State Comptroller’s office outlined how much the climate crisis will cost New Yorkers, making clear that adhering to the state’s climate law and implementing the Cap and Invest program to make major corporate polluters pay for their damage is an affordability imperative. (The state’s own modeling and outside studies show that most families would see lower energy bills from Cap and Invest.) Moreover, the Williams Pipeline will cost ratepayers in New York City more than a billion dollars, while hurting beachfront communities that rely on summer tourism and business. 

With the United Nations warning the world is on track to breach the 1.5 degree warming limit set in the Paris Agreement with “devastating consequences,” New York needs a governor who respects the will of the vast majority of voters who want climate action, and whose elected representatives already passed climate laws on their behalf. Clearly Gov. Hochul is not the climate leader we need. 

Liat Olenick is a co-founder or and organizer with Climate Families NYC. She lives in Brooklyn.

The post Opinion: When it Comes to Climate, Hochul is No Better Than Trump appeared first on City Limits.

An upcoming road project on the boundary between Oakdale and Lake Elmo aims to improve pavement conditions while addressing safety issues for all users.

The Ideal Avenue Improvement Project covers a section of Ideal Avenue, also known as Washington County Road 13, between Stillwater Boulevard and 34th Street North. Expected elements of the project include widening shoulders and adding turn lanes at intersections, improving pedestrian and bike accommodations, improving drainage and planning for future growth and development, according to a Washington County project announcement.

An open house to inform people about the project is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Oakdale Discovery Center, 4444 Hadley Ave. N.

The goal of the open house is to present several proposed design concepts and gather feedback from community members, said Tina Elam, a Washington County communications manager. People can review project alternatives and share comments on the proposed designs.

People also can provide feedback Nov. 19 to Dec. 10 at washingtoncountymn.gov/IdealAve.

The estimated cost of the project is $7.8 million and is expected to start in spring 2029, Elam said. Funding for this project will come from Washington County’s transportation sales tax, the Minnesota Transportation Advancement Account and the cities of Lake Elmo and Oakdale.

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