Lessons from San Francisco’s Downfall: A Cautionary Tale for New Yorkers

San Francisco’s experience underscores the dangers of supporting charismatic yet potentially disastrous leadership. Once celebrated for promising housing, revitalization, and equity, the city’s policies led to widespread homelessness, rising crime, and economic decline.

In 2017, London Breed ascended to mayor amid hopes for change. Despite her charismatic appeal, her tenure saw a surge in tent encampments, a hollowing out of the financial district, and a spike in violence. Her declaration of identity and anger in 2020 reflected a city grappling with unrest and lawlessness, which intensified after George Floyd’s death.

Progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin further liberalized criminal justice, abolishing cash bail and reducing incarceration levels. Such policies inadvertently allowed fentanyl epidemics and drug tourism to flourish, leading to increased overdoses and property crimes.

Efforts to address homelessness, like Proposition C, aimed to fund affordable housing but failed to curb the crisis. Meanwhile, many high-revenue companies left, and city services, including policing, diminished significantly. The police force shrank from nearly 2,000 officers in 2020 to under 1,500 in 2024, and the city’s reputation deteriorated.

The city became a symbol of urban decay—its streets marred by neglect and a ‘‘poop map’’ highlighting sanitation issues—transforming into a cautionary tale for other jurisdictions.

Voters ousted Boudin in 2022, replacing him with Brooke Jenkins, who prioritized law enforcement and crime reduction. Recent improvements include a decline in crime, the clearing of tent encampments, and an uptick in tourism. Public optimism is cautiously rising, yet skepticism remains.

As residents observe San Francisco’s struggles and cautious recovery, many in New York are wary of supporting populist leaders like Mamdani, whose policies risk turning a vibrant city into a potentially unrecognizable place of chaos and decline. The lesson is clear: seductive promises can hide dangerous realities, and removing such leaders is a challenging process once damage is done.