NYC NOW - Inside The So-Called "Commie Corridor": The Neighborhoods Changing New York City Politics

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

Read More:Inside The So-Called "Commie Corridor": The Neighborhoods Changing New York City Politics The Democratic Socialists of America are gaining political power in New York City, and much of that support is concentrated in a string of neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. WNYC Senior Politics Reporter Brigid Bergin brings us along on her tour of the so-called “Commie Corridor” to understand who's driving the movement, and why issues of affordability, identity and community are shaping their priorities. Photo: Rhe Civitello/Gothamist illustration Read More:   A people’s guide to the ‘Commie Corridor’ of Brooklyn and Queens (https://gothamist.com/news/a-peoples-guide-to-the-commie-corridor-of-brooklyn-and-queens) Michael Lange's Substack (https://www.michaellange.nyc/) -Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at [e-mail] Tags: New York City politics, Democratic Socialists of America, DSA, Zohran Mamdani, NYC politics, WNYC, Brigid Bergin, Janae Pierre, Michael Lange, housing, renters, affordability, gentrification, tenant rights, progressive politics, left-wing politics, Brooklyn, Queens, Astoria, Bushwick, Greenpoint, Ridgewood, Bed-Stuy, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, political movements Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre, and I have two words for you. Kami Corridor. It is not a reflection of the Communist Party. This was this kind of cheeky name to talk about where they had this really high concentration of support for Mayor Mamdani and also a large population of Democratic Socialists of America members. The DSA is gaining political power in New York City. On today's show, we hop along the Kami Corridor.

to better understand the voters and neighborhoods driving this moment. But before we get into that, here are a few of the news headlines we're keeping eyes on. President Trump is looking into ways to stop New York City's new piettaire tax. If you haven't heard already, the city plans to tax second homes worth more than $5 million and condos worth more than a million bucks. Trump says the policy will drive rich people out of the Big Apple. A state judge has already paused a new levy, which was set to take a lot of, effect next year. New York State officials are suing to shut down Kalshi over claims that the

platform is facilitating illegal gambling. And we're not talking chump change here. Attorney General Leticia James is seeking $36 billion in damages from the company. The New York City Council is joining the list of political leaders taking a hard look at the practices of prediction markets as well. The inquiry could lead to new legislation from the city. We'll see what happens. Council Speaker Julie Menon expects a response from Polly Market on its practices within the next two weeks. The Bronx is getting its first busway. The half-mile route on Traymont Avenue will ban most cars and give priority to buses, big trucks, and emergency vehicles. City leaders say buses on this clogged route crawl at about five miles per hour, but the mayor expects the busway will speed

up trips for riders by six minutes once it's complete in mid-September. If you want to read more about what's happening in and around New York City, check out our news. site got the missed. When the results came in on primary night in June, there was one watch party here in the city where everyone in candidate at each level of government was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. When we introduce our candidates, we use a language of hope. We say the next assembly member, the next state senator, the next congressperson. Tonight we use a language of fact. Mayor Mundani was there, and so was my mom. colleague WMYC's senior politics reporter Bridget Bergen.

Hey Bridget. Hey, Jeanne. I just knew that you loved hanging in clubs in Bushwick. I knew it. I don't know how you could tell. But I will say on this particular night, the club was packed. It's a place called 99 Scott's studio in Bushwick. It was a former warehouse, but the energy in that room that night, Janae, I mean, it was pulsating. And it was filled with supporters of these DSA candidates who had all won their races. You talked about the energy, and I mean, you can hear it here. These wins are a really big deal. Valdez beat the sitting borough president, and people are still trying to figure out what this

actually means, even myself. I mean, the mayor said it's all part of this growing political movement that's bigger than his own election last year. We spoke about that growing political movement last week when we unpacked some changes in how the Democratic Socialists of America describe working class. I was even confused by it. Am I in it or not? We went out and asked New Yorkers and people couldn't settle on a unified definition. And as the DSA's political power has grown in this city, which you can see by that sweep on primary night, some analysts attributed to another group, the renter class. I'm definitely in that one.

We'll get into what that group is in a moment, but Bridget, you talk to one of those analysts, right? Yeah, I talked to this guy named Michael Lang. So nice to meet you. Good, good. What a beautiful day. I know. And this guy's not orange. He's been writing about this renter class and where they live, and he's called this area the Kami Corridor.

I published an article that talked about the Kami Corridor as the String of Neighborhoods in Western Queens and North Brooklyn. and that, you know, are kind of the heart of the political left here in New York City. I asked Michael to help me understand what was it about this movement and why was it so concentrated in these neighborhoods? So I asked Michael to give me a tour. And so over about two days, we started trying to unpack these neighborhoods. And we started right in front of Mayor Mom Donnie's former apartment. It's a beautiful building, you know.

Now, this is a rent-stabilized one-bedroom. He started renting there in about 2018. It was $2,300 a month. Since he's moved out, Jenae, the rent is now $3,100. Wow. That's a 35% increase. But, you know, that is what the NYU Furman Center has found rents in Astoria have jumped over the past 20 years. You know, 35% is the average in Astoria.

Now, that is higher than the rest of Queens, and it's higher than the rest of the city. But it speaks to this cost of living crisis that became central to Mom Donnie's campaign. And it's something that Michael Lang says is squeezing people's bottom line and has really given rise to this renter class. This kind of a renter is now like a political identity of sorts. So Astoria, like the rest of these neighborhoods in what he is called, the Kami Corridor, are filled with renters, many of them are young professionals, and they're really getting squeezed by this cost of living. Like everybody else, right? Absolutely.

So younger folks, they're young and they rent, and they're really feeling the burden of this affordability crisis. Bridget, I keep hearing you say Kami Corridor, and this struck me in the beginning, so I have to ask it now, is there any connection to the Communist Party? Because Kami, communist, come on now. Yeah, I mean, it's true. funny, right? Like, that's what President Trump calls them, right? In short, no, it is not a reflection of the Communist Party, but this was this kind of cheeky name that Michael Lang came up with to talk about where they had this really high concentration of support for Mayor Mamdani and also a large population of Democratic Socialists of America members, people who are, you know,

card-carrying members of this organization that was really instrumental to, him getting elected. And, you know, as it turns out, not just him. This is where now a whole other crop of elected officials, as you mentioned, from all levels of government, were successful in their primaries. And, like, frankly, Socialist Street doesn't really have a ring to it. So Comic Corridor it was. You're right. You're right. Okay. So we know, Bridget, by the way, that the DSA here in New York has doubled since Zora Mundani announced his mayoral campaign. So where'd you go next on this Kami Corridor tour? So we hit a bunch of different places.

Michael really helped curate our tour. And part of what we were doing was trying to unpack what this movement's about through the places and the people we met along the way. They were trendy spots. They were very young. You tended to find that there were people who were pro-Palestinian. That's been a central issue to the DSA. very kind of accepting of people, you know, regardless of gender, like a lot of queer spaces. And it starts to hint at why this movement is growing not just in New York City, but we're starting to see in other parts of the country. So the first place after Mom Donnie's apartment that we went to was a restaurant, just steps down the block from Mom Donnie's apartment called King of Falafel. And this place, It's more than just the food that draws people.

My name is Freddie. My name is actually Paris Zadir, but everybody's normally Freddie from the early 1980. I'm the chef and owner of King of Falafelot-Chlam. When you walk into the restaurant, the owner, Freddie, he's a Palestinian man. The business started actually as a food cart. He also drove a taxi before that. But you know where Freddie stands on that. the issue of Israel and the issue of Palestine. The restaurant is decorated in colors of the

Palestinian flag, red, black, white, and green. Now, he also has a DSA sign in his window. But, Jada, this is great. I asked him, you know, how did he first get involved in politics? And he said when he became a citizen back in the 1980s, his friend convinced him to register as a Republican. My friend convinced me to become to register a Republican. I never. pay attention, all he used to pay at the major election. I never did primaries or anything. But, you know, he wasn't that active in politics, certainly not that interested in primaries. So he just did it. He did it for a while, and then guess who he met? But then it came in in 24 when Mamdani running for the mayor for the office.

Mamdani went on since the early 2020, what he did for the Palestinians and his movement, his ideas. And Freddie wanted to support that, wanted to support the DSA, and so when Mamdani had his first meeting with people talking about how he was considering a run for mayor, guess who catered it?

Freddy's. Yes, he did. Before you left a story, Bridget, did you get anything good to eat? We took some falafel for the ride, of course. All right, all right, cool. Where'd you go next? So from there, we went to a place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's called Plus Brooklyn.

It's a plus-size vintage and consignment shop. Nice. And it was actually suggested by assembly member Emily Gallagher, who, you know, has been in office since 2020. She's relatively young. She defeated a guy named Joe Lenthal, who had been in. representing the area in the State Assembly for almost five decades. And then before that, it was his father. And then before that, it was his grandfather.

So when Emily won that seat, you know, it was a seismic moment for the politics of Greenpoint. Definitely. She toppled a family dynasty. Exactly. And then after she had been elected and she did not have the support of, you know, some of these more leftist movements when she ran, she then joined DSA and has been part of the socialists in office since she's been in the assembly. And so we went there because she wanted us to meet the shop owner at Plus Brooklyn, a woman named Alexis Craze. And she talked about

why she opened the shop 10 years ago, how basically, you know, people who are not of average size, you know, in her words, fat people are marginalized, and she was trying to create a space that was welcoming for people of all body shapes, for people of all gender identities, and that's what Plus Brooklyn is. I love that. But, you know, as much as I'm a fashion girlie, Bridget, how does that represent the Kami Corridor? Because she said the ethos that was behind building that shop and creating a safe space is also

what led her to support some of these DSA-aligned events. I wanted to create a community space. And I mean that in the sense that, like, you know, as somebody as part of a marginalized group, there are very few people who have that lived experience that know what it's like to walk into a store and find nothing that fits you or feel like you're kind of on the periphery or as, you know, frankly, being an outsider. So I thought if we build it, that will come. And that's kind of what happened.

So at the start of the second Trump administration, you know, as those ice raids started picking up across the country as we saw American citizens killed by ice officers. You know, the staff at the store was just feeling really frustrated and really powerless. And so assembly member Gallagher suggested, hey, you know, what about if you opened up your shop and did a know-your-rights training so that people in the community would understand what do we do if. we see ICE officers here. And, you know, Assembly Member Gallagher said it's become, you know, one of the safest feeling spaces for a lot of people in that community because they can have that kind of conversation there. And Alex agreed.

It was kind of organic and it was, it did feel really empowering because, and natural too, because like that's kind of what we had been doing all along is creating space for people to meet and congregate. This is really a characteristic of some of these businesses. that we stopped at along this tour of the commie corridor, you know, these are not just business owners, but these are people who are reflecting the interests and the organizing of their community.

We're going to take a break here, but when we get back, Bridget and I discuss the G word, gentrification, and concerns about how the DSA might be contributing to it. Stay with us. Welcome back. Before the break, WNYC reporter Bridget Bergen took us to Astoria, Queens and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, two neighborhoods within the so-called Kami Corridor that has

reawaken the spirit of community organizing across the city. But who are the people making up these neighborhoods? I ask that question repeatedly and buckle your seatbelt. We went to Bushwick next. You love Bushwick. I am seeing this. And when we were there, I sat down with the co-chairs of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. My name is Gustavo Bordillo. I'm one of the co-chairs of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America. And I'm Grace Mouser. I'm the other co-chair of New York City, DSA.

And, yeah, we're right off the Myrtle Avenue stop and kind of a hub of DSA activity in the city. We met at this place called Boyfriend Co-op. Yeah. It's a worker-owned collective cafe bar. And Gustavo described it as a place that was friends of their cause. They've hosted many of our service. socials and events and fundraisers here. The first event I came here was for a trans rights campaign fundraiser.

So DSA has hosted watch parties at boyfriend co-op in Bushwick. They were actually overcapacity in 2025 when they were watching those mayoral primary results. Oh, yeah, it was popping. It was. And, you know, they appreciate places who welcomed them, you know, early in their rise. But this is a big space by New York standards. It was really packed. It was a real sign that this movement was growing.

So I asked them about what I'm hearing from people who say, okay, this movement is growing, but it's multiplying with these gentrifiers, with these transplants, with these people who are coming to New York but don't necessarily have roots in New York and understand the needs of people who have built their families here. who've been here for generations. And, you know, they were willing to push back on that. One of the things that Grace pointed to, you know, how one of their candidates in that primary in Upper Manhattan, Darya Lisa Avila Chavillier, was able to defeat the incumbent Democratic Congress member, Adriano Espionte. And, you know, that's a district that you couldn't win

without a multiracial coalition. The pushback that you hear from that from some people in these neighborhoods is these are the newcomers. These are the gentrifiers. These are the people who haven't been in the city that long and they are displacing long-term residents. So talk about that a little bit. It's both shifting and an unfair criticism. People who are arguing this are defending people who have been in charge while this gentrifice. was happening, right? You heard this a lot uptown and people defending Espayat on those grounds,

but Esbyat had been in power for 30 years as his neighbors were being forced out of the neighborhood that he represented. So clearly, whatever he was doing to fight gentrification was not adequate. So I think a lot of people responded to that, and both newcomers and people who have lived there a long time want to stay in their homes. And they have that in common, and we're trying to highlight that. Grace talked about how the membership has become more diverse racially and age-wise. She said they have members now who are from 16 years old to 80 years old. And Gustavo really underscored the point that Avila Chauvelier couldn't have won with support only from white voters. That is a white residence in that district are a minority.

there is no way to win an election there without a multiracial coalition. And the political establishment can choose to obfuscate and ignore those lessons. But if they want to fight back effectively, they would do well to actually look at the data. That's really interesting. So what I'm hearing, Bridget, is maybe the membership is reflecting, you know, who's actually up against that affordability crisis. renters, young people with some increasing diversity. Yeah, and this came up later in the tour as well when I met with State Senator Jabari Bristport.

And, you know, we went to a location where he had picked out a place called Sistis Place, which, you know, has some deep roots in the community. I will say we weren't there very long because there was a stop work order in place. So we started there and then we moved to another location. but that site has some historic roots in the neighborhood. It was the home of the December 12th movement, which was a black radical organization. They've been doing a lot of work in the community for about four decades now, work, you know, calling for reparations, black liberation,

fighting against police brutality. And so I wanted to make sure that I asked him this similar question, how he is a black elected official thinks about the growth of D.S. say membership. And does this movement address the issues of his constituents of black and brown New Yorkers in his district? Yeah, I would say the complaints are coming almost entirely from people in tight political circles who are upset that their friends have lost elections. When you talk to everyday people, especially everyday black people on the street, number one thing they talk about is the cost of living. The desire to stay and beds die, they're where they can afford it.

And aside from housing, which is the number one thing, it becomes squire. It becomes we need opportunities for our youth. No one on the streets like everyday regular people are saying, oh no, DSA is scary. That is something coming completely out of a black establishment, political class. What about the concerns, though, related to displacement, like talking about, oh, you know, this is a neighborhood that has lost thousands of black residents and has been replaced in large part by white residents, maybe people who are more inclined to be DSA supporting. How do you make sense of that argument?

sense of that argument? Yeah, I would say it's pretty clear what happened. Black people in Bette Stey and Central Brooklyn were displaced by greedy developers and landlords who either raised the rents on them that they couldn't afford in existing buildings or built new homes that they could not afford. And to push back against that, what we have at pushing for in DSA that is very popular is increased tenant protections. At the city level, freezing the rent for unstabilized units at the state level, passing greater tenant protections like good cause evictions. This push to build a social housing development authority where the government gets back in the business of building housing so that you're not beholden to a corporate developer that wants to get double-digit margins on

their home allows us to build housing that people can actually afford to live in. Bridget, I want to go back to something that Senator Bristport said. He described the criticism as coming entirely from the black political establishment. Did you hear directly from anyone who could explain what those concerns are actually about? Yeah, Janae, I spoke to political strategist. Lupe Todd Medina about Bristport's comments. She has been living in Bedstuy for 20 years at this point, has worked for several different candidates, more moderate Democrats,

including House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. And she says this debate is not that simple, that the concerns are broader than just a fight over elections. There seems to be a sense within the DSA moving into Bedford-Sty. And then they want to change Bedford-Stuyveson to their liking instead of appreciating what is already existing. And so when people are talking about, you know, they say that DSA is going to dilute the power. I don't think it necessarily is just they're just talking about diluting the political power. It's also the power of the community.

So that tension over who gets to shape the neighborhood, that's still very much alive. Yeah, so much of my conversation with her was about the history of the neighborhood. The idea that people moving in don't know the small business owners who may live in the same building where they operate, or that people are opening new places that don't make her feel welcome. Where did the tour end? So our final stop on the tour was a bar in Ridgewood Queens called Peg's Cavalier, where we met Claire Valdez, the Democratic nominee

for New York's 7th Congressional District. Yeah, she defeated the sitting borough president at the time. Yeah, Antonio Rinozo, yeah. Who had, you know, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez's very strong endorsement.

Lang told me that, of all the neighborhoods in the Comey Corridor, this neighborhood, Ridgewood is the one with the most left-leaning voters. It's where Valdez won by 20 points, and where Mom Dani did the best when he was running for mayor as well.

So when I asked Valdez this similar question about the changes in the neighborhood, she said it's one that's been defined by cycles of displacement, which can apply to all the neighborhoods in the Kami Corridor. But she also says she doesn't think the growth in working class politics or, you know, DSA membership is something that will stay confined to just a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. because the issues that these voters are facing are issues that people are facing across the city and frankly across the country.

It's a very young neighborhoods, very progressive. Historically, you know, it's changed a lot in recent years. You know, there's been a lot of, you know, gentrification. It was one of the neighborhoods that saw the greatest number of rent-stabilized units just disappear from the market over the last few years. I think it's given rise to a lot of, obviously, displacement and precarcing.

but it's still a neighborhood that has, you know, many families who have been here for generations and generations. Yeah. When Zoramam Dani announced that he'd be running from mayor, I wondered to myself when it came to the DSA, is this a moment or is this a movement? And I certainly have the answer to that. Yeah. Where do you see this movement going next? Well, if you talk to the co-chair of the New York City chapter of DSA, Grace Mouser, she, has a very explicit answer for you. I asked her that question at Boyfriend Co-op. Here's what she said.

Just to be clear, we think AOC should run for president, but the choice is hers, of course. And Jene, to bring it back to Mumdani, five days before the primary, when there was this slate of Democratic Socialist candidates who were on the ballot, people were looking at the primary and saying, wow, Mom Dani's put a lot on the line here.

He has really staked his electoral influence on the outcome of these primaries. Can he motivate people to show up at the polls in the same way for other candidates as they showed up for him? And there were questions, could he do it? And the answer was he did. And the issue is he's saying,

this is not about me. This is about a movement. And oh, by the way, 2028, it starts now. That's WMYC's Bridget Bergen. Thanks a lot, Bridget. Thanks, Janay. And thank you for listening to NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre.

See you next time.