New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash online after admitting that his campaign pledge to make city buses free is hitting funding roadblocks.

Conservatives were quick to react to a Politico interview where the mayor acknowledged that one of his most hotly discussed campaign promises wouldn’t happen this year as his administration works to gain support from lawmakers in Albany.

«It won’t ever happen. It was a high-profile promise that won’t ever happen. It wasn’t really meant to,» wrote conservative media host Jason Rantz on X.

«Turns out socialist slogans don’t survive contact with reality,» National Republican Congressional Committee Press Secretary Mike Marinella posted on X.

FROM FREE BUSES TO CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES, HERE ARE MAMDANI’S KEY ECONOMIC PROMISES

«Hahahahahahahahahaha. You got played, NYC,» wrote Amy Curtis, a conservative writer, on X.

«Mamdani lied about free buses — and basically everything else in his campaign,» wrote Tim Young, a media fellow at The Heritage Foundation, on X. «And the idiots of New York fell for it,» he added.

«Socialism is like a toxic ex: big promises upfront, disappointment later,» conservative media outlet Prager U posted on X. «Just ask New York about those free buses.»

Others, however, defended the effort, pointing to the complexities of funding major transit changes and praising the administration for continuing negotiations.

SOCIALIST NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CLASHES WITH HOCHUL OVER TAX HIKES AS SOME CRITICS WARN OF CATASTROPHE

The Empire State Building behind an MTA bus in New York, US, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Mamdani’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the mayor remains committed to the plan, adding that his administration is working with state officials to make fare-free buses a reality before the end of his term.

«Mayor Mamdani is committed to delivering fast and free buses by the time he leaves office, full stop,» a spokesperson said, noting ongoing discussions with N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.

«In the meantime, the Mamdani administration will continue to work with our partners at the state and local level to make commutes faster and our transit system more affordable for all New Yorkers.»

Mamdani never explicitly pledged to fulfill the campaign platform in the first year but said he intended to accomplish the goal by the end of his first four-year term.

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Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, during a news conference at the WIN NYC family shelter in New York, US, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

«Making buses fast and free, the fast thing we’re already getting started on,» Mamdani said in January. «And what I’ve said is that by the time I’m finished being mayor, they’re going to be free. What we have to deliver, however, in this very year, required by law, but also required just by being a good mayor, a balanced budget for this fiscal year [and for] the next fiscal year.»

As an assembly member, Mamdani launched a free bus pilot program in Queens that he has touted as highly successful citing increased ridership by more than 30% and showing a nearly 40% drop in assaults on bus operators.

Still, Mamdani’s critics argue that the cost of free busses is fiscally risky and logistically flawed for the behemoth New York City system and warn it would likely to degrade the very service it aims to improve.

The debate comes as Mamdani advances a broader affordability agenda built on campaign promises such as city-owned grocery stores and rent freezes, proposals that have rattled Wall Street and drawn sharp criticism.

The clash underscores a widening divide between progressive ambitions for the city and the financial sector that has long powered its economy.

La delegación salvadoreña de ciclismo ya se encuentra en Guanacaste, Costa Rica, para competir en el Campeonato Centroamericano de Ruta 2026, un evento clave para la región que otorga plazas a los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe de Santo Domingo. Organizado bajo el aval de la Unión Ciclista Internacional, este campeonato reúne a las selecciones nacionales de Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá y Costa Rica, que compiten en pruebas de ruta en categorías élite, sub 23 y juvenil.

De acuerdo con la Federación Salvadoreña de Ciclismo, el equipo nacional está conformado por Diego Cárcamo, Daniel Orellana y Brandon Rodríguez, quienes representarán a El Salvador en las distintas pruebas del calendario. La delegación viajó acompañada por la licenciada Jhoselin Sánchez, gerente técnico de la federación, y agradeció públicamente a la Federación Costarricense de Ciclismo (FECOCI) por el recibimiento y las facilidades brindadas en Costa Rica. El evento inicia hoy con la prueba contrarreloj individual, que parte del Parque de la Cruz y se extiende hasta el domingo 12 de abril, cuando se disputará la ruta individual élite masculina desde Parque Cañas hasta la Iglesia Tilarán.

Según datos publicados por el medio costarricense Delfino, la primera jornada del campeonato abrirá con un recorrido contrarreloj de 31 kilómetros entre El Pelón de la Altura y el Parque de La Cruz. Para el viernes 10 de abril están programadas las pruebas juveniles masculinas y femeninas, que cubren una distancia de 120 kilómetros entre Cañas, Liberia y Tilarán. El sábado se celebrarán las pruebas de ruta para la élite femenina y la sub 23 masculina. La prueba más exigente del calendario se realizará el domingo, cuando la élite masculina recorrerá 167 kilómetros entre Liberia y Tilarán.

La delegación costarricense, anfitriona del campeonato, está encabezada por Jason Huertas, Daniel Bonilla, Gabriel Rojas y Joseph Ramírez en la categoría élite, junto a corredores sub 23 y juveniles. En la rama femenina, destacan ciclistas como Gloriana Quesada, Dixiana Quesada, Melisa Ávila, Yailin Gómez y Milagro Mena, quienes junto a otras convocadas buscarán los mejores resultados para su país.

El campeonato cuenta con la participación confirmada de equipos nacionales de Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá. Generalmente, la selección de Guatemala se caracteriza por presentar una delegación numerosa, compuesta por ciclistas de ambas ramas y diversas categorías, buscando consolidar su dominio regional. Honduras y Nicaragua, por su parte, mantienen una presencia constante en el calendario centroamericano, mientras que Panamá suele acudir con sus mejores representantes buscando sumar puntos para el ranking internacional y plazas para competiciones mayores.

La programación del Campeonato Centroamericano de Ruta contempla jornadas de alta exigencia y recorridos que destacan por su diversidad geográfica y climática, lo que supone un reto adicional para los ciclistas de toda la región. El evento no solo es una plataforma de alto rendimiento, sino también un espacio fundamental para el desarrollo deportivo y el intercambio entre las federaciones nacionales.

Para la delegación salvadoreña, la experiencia en Guanacaste representa una oportunidad de fogueo internacional y de sumar experiencia frente a rivales de alto nivel. Tanto la Federación Salvadoreña de Ciclismo como la FECOCI han subrayado la importancia del campeonato como antesala a las competencias continentales y como incentivo para las nuevas generaciones de ciclistas.

El Campeonato Centroamericano de Ruta 2026 se consolida así como una cita imprescindible en el calendario deportivo de la región, con escenarios exigentes y la participación de los mejores talentos del ciclismo centroamericano, todos con la mira puesta en Santo Domingo y en la proyección internacional de sus selecciones nacionales.

A miner in Mexico was saved in an «astonishing rescue» after spending nearly two weeks trapped underground, officials said. 

A dam breach caused by a structural failure flooded the El Rosario mine in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa on March 25, trapping Francisco Zapata Nájera and three co-workers. Zapata Nájera was located on Tuesday by divers, but the rescue teams were unable to reach him through heavily flooded areas until 21 hours later. 

«The exceptional members of the Mexican Army’s Emergency Response Battalion, along with the faith and resilience of a miner, made this astonishing rescue possible after 13 days,» Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X. «I’m certain that all Mexicans, every one of us, hold you in our hearts.» 

Of the 25 miners present during the accident, 21 escaped immediately. Five days later, rescuers pulled one survivor from a depth of 985 feet.

AMERICAN SKIERS RESCUED AFTER GETTING LOST NEAR OLYMPIC VENUE IN THE ITALIAN ALPS

Sheinbaum confirmed that another miner has been found dead and one more is still missing. 

In a video released Wednesday, clapping could be heard from a crowd that gathered as Zapata Nájera was removed from the mine, seeing daylight for the first time this month. 

CREWS RESCUE TEEN FROM 50-FOOT DEEP CALIFORNIA MINESHAFT

Rescue teams transport miner Francisco Zapata Najera on a stretcher following his rescue on April 8, 2026. (Stringer/Reuters)

His condition was stabilized and he was sent in a Mexican Air Force helicopter to a hospital in Mazatlán, where he will be treated by specialists, officials said. 

Mexico’s deadliest mining accident took place in February 2006 at the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila, where an explosion killed 65 workers.

Rescue teams are seen leaving the El Rosario mine on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (Stringer/Reuters)

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In August 2022, 10 miners died when the El Pinabete coal mine in Coahuila flooded. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.