New York City is baking under a brutal heat wave, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s answer was not more power, it was less use of the power you already pay for.

The self-described socialist mayor took to X and asked New Yorkers to set their thermostats to 78 degrees, shut off lights and electronics, and unplug what they can, so the grid does not buckle under demand.

To be fair, it is a request, not a rule. Nobody gets arrested for running their AC at 68. But listen to how the mayor framed it. City buildings are already locked to 78 degrees. Private partners are being asked to fall in line. Nonessential equipment is being powered down by City Hall itself.

That is the pattern. When socialism does not have the votes or the legal authority to force compliance, it leans on moral pressure instead. New Yorkers are being told that keeping their own homes livable in triple digit heat is somehow selfish, unless they voluntarily suffer a little for the common good.

Conservatives from Ted Cruz to Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy piled on within hours, and even a City Council Republican, Vickie Paladino, warned this is exactly how it starts. First the suggestion, then the shaming, then the higher prices, then the regulation. Europe already lived this story.

The Founders built a government meant to secure liberty, not manage a thermostat. The Federalist Papers warned again and again about power that grows through small, reasonable sounding steps. A polite request today has a way of becoming policy tomorrow, especially from a mayor who just days earlier called socialism the future of his party.

New Yorkers do not need a mayor micromanaging their comfort. They need a grid that can handle a hot summer without asking citizens to sweat for the cause.  – Federalist Papers