Zohran Mamdani just got handed a $47,050 raise. He turned it down, laughing.
"I will not accept a pay raise," he told reporters Thursday. "I haven't knocked on anyone's door in New York City and they've said their concern is that the mayor makes too little."
He'd rather see that money, he added, in "the pockets of those who are struggling in the city."
The raise wasn't a stunt he engineered to refuse. New York's City Council passed the 18 percent increase 42 to 6. It's the first raise for city officials in a decade, and costs have climbed 30 percent since the last one.
The recommendation came from a commission Mamdani himself appointed. He isn't blocking it, either. Council members, borough presidents, and district attorneys will get their raises, and he'll sign them into law. He's declining exactly one: his own.