NYC Republican warns socialist candidate would create ‘lawless’ city

EXCLUSIVE: Inna Vernikov, a NYC Republican councilwoman, spoke to Fox News Digital about the prospect of New York City being run by socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. 

“I think it’s a very dangerous situation we’re in. I think we’re looking at a chaotic city with lawlessness,” Vernikov told Fox News Digital when asked what New York City will look like after four years if Mamdani is victorious in November.

“I think we’re gonna see a lot of the wealthy and the middle class escape New York City.”

Vernikov, who was born in the Soviet Union and came to the United States as a child, told Fox News Digital she remembers standing in line with her grandfather for a bottle of milk and made the comparison between Mamdani’s policies and communist Russia.

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Fox News Digital spoke to NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov about Zohran Mamdani (Fox News Digital/Getty)

“Think about going into the DMV. Think about going anywhere, and just remember how much red tape and incompetence you’ll see going to any of these agencies, and that’s what Mamdani wants to do with New York City,” Vernikov said. “He wants government-run supermarkets. That is completely counter, runs completely counter to what America is supposed to be. America was built on the free market economy, free marketplace of ideas, the idea of meritocracy and capitalism, and competition. Capitalism is not perfect, but it’s based on the idea of competition.”

Vernikov added that New York City under Mamdani, in her opinion, will be “dangerous,” “chaotic,” and “lawless.”

Mamdani met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in New York on Friday as Democrats continue to be pressed on whether they will endorse Mamdani despite his past controversial comments on economics, Israel and policing.

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NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani briefly speaks with reporters as he leaves the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. Zohran met privately with Sanders after attending a breakfast event hosted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Many experts, including some who spoke to Fox News Digital earlier this month, suggested a Mamdani victory would spark a reckoning in the Democratic Party.

“There is just no way that moderate and centrist Democrats can abide by socialism, cultural revolution, and ever-bloated welfare state driving us into bankruptcy, and alignment with goals of Mid East fascist terrorists,” Former House Judiciary Chief Counsel Julian Epstein, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital. “So if he wins, not only will it continue to sink the national brand of the party, it may portend the eventual break-up of the party as we know it today.”

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New York City Council member Inna Vernikov speaks at a press conference sponsored by New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino about supporting public sector workers affected by COVID-19 vaccine mandates.  (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images)

Vernikov echoed that sentiment to Fox News Digital and said that Mamdani “is the Democratic Party today.”

“The problem with the Democratic Party is it’s no longer the Democratic Party of JFK,” Vernikov said. “It’s the Democratic Party of AOC and all the radicals. It has radically moved to the left, and a lot of Democrats are now put into this position: Do we endorse this guy or do we stay away from this guy? And some of them actually have been threatened with physical violence, and the primary from a progressive, so they’re really stuck politically.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment.