BACK IN FEBRUARY, the new mayor of New York City went to Washington. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist(民主社会主义者), was lobbying(游说) Donald Trump for $21bn in federal funding. The money was not for universal child care or another lefty passion, but for Sunnyside Yard(阳光谷场，皇后区大型铁路车辆段改造项目), a colossal(巨大的) housing development in Queens.
今年二月，纽约市新市长前往华盛顿。民主社会主义者佐兰·马姆达尼正在游说唐纳德·特朗普，争取210亿美元的联邦资金。这笔钱并非用于全民儿童保育或另一项左翼热衷的事业，而是用于皇后区一个庞大的住房开发项目——阳光谷场。
The project had been delayed for years—back in 2019 Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a New York congresswoman and another member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), opposed the proposal, saying such building “displaces(使流离失所) communities of colour and parcels off(分块转让) public land to private real-estate developers”. But now Mr Mamdani was on board(支持、同意参与). A photo showed him and Mr Trump smiling in the Oval Office(椭圆形办公室，美国总统办公室), with the president brandishing(挥舞) a mocked-up newspaper reading “TRUMP TO CITY: LET’S BUILD”.
该项目已拖延多年——早在2019年，纽约州女议员、美国民主社会主义者组织（DSA）成员亚历山德里娅·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯就反对这一提案，称此类建设“迫使有色人种社区流离失所，并将公共土地分块转让给私人房地产开发商”。但如今马姆达尼却表示支持。一张照片显示，他与特朗普在椭圆形办公室微笑合影，总统挥舞着一份模拟报纸，上面写着“特朗普对纽约市说：让我们建吧”。
Mr Trump has yet to follow through with(兑现、贯彻到底) money for Sunnyside Yard. However, Mr Mamdani’s housing agenda continues to become more ambitious. Democratic congressional candidates speak incessantly about “affordability”, but actually making America more affordable is a harder task; leftist populists, in particular, must decide if they will subvert some principles to pragmatism.(民主党国会候选人喋喋不休地谈论“可负担性”，但真正让美国变得更可负担是一项更艰巨的任务；尤其是左翼民粹主义者，必须决定是否要为了务实而颠覆某些原则。) But New York’s mayor is already providing an answer. For the “affordability” agenda’s most vexing(令人烦恼的) problem, Mr Mamdani has a simple formula: squeeze landlords and woo(拉拢、争取) developers.
特朗普尚未兑现对阳光谷场的资金承诺。然而，马姆达尼的住房议程却愈发雄心勃勃。民主党国会候选人喋喋不休地谈论“可负担性”，但真正让美国变得更可负担是一项更艰巨的任务；尤其是左翼民粹主义者，必须决定是否要为了务实而颠覆某些原则。但纽约市长已经给出了答案。对于“可负担性”议程中最棘手的问题，马姆达尼有一个简单的公式：挤压房东，拉拢开发商。