Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has been accused of giving vague and evasive answers when asked about controversial issues.

Mamdani's critics alleged that the far-left politician has been busted doing so again, this time pointing to his stance on prostitution. 

Mamdani won't say if decriminalization will apply to pimps and customers

The New York Post noted in an article published on Tuesday that Mamdani endorses the decriminalization of prostitution in America's largest city.

However, the candidate has thus far refused to say whether this change would apply to the customers of prostitutes or their pimps.

Dora Pekec serves as Mamdani’s campaign spokeswoman, and she has done little to shed light on the question, telling the Post, "We haven’t made a decision on that yet."

Meanwhile, one unnamed Democratic operative was quoted as saying that Mamdani is "good at sounding smart enough while saying nothing."

"He sounds like a congressional candidate, not the soon-to-be mayor who is going to have to tackle these things in excruciating specificity. They believe they have a clue, but the rest of us could use some reassurance," the figure added.

Opponents say Mamdani could provide help to traffickers

Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and she argued that decriminalizing prostitution could lead to serious harms for both prostitutes and the community at large.

"If you entirely stop arresting the prostitution, you are losing an opportunity of who is in charge of them, finding the rings of sex traffickers and it’s very important to know: are you going to arrest the Johns and the sex traffickers and people driving cars place to place or running the hotels?" Gelinas asked.

"I think it’s just another complex area where he doesn’t realize how complicated it is," the researcher went on to maintain.

That perspective was summarized by an anonymous police officer, who quipped, "Pimpin’ ain’t easy, but Mamdani will make it easier."

Local resident fears consequences of decriminalization

Fifty-four-year-old Marcela Casteneba is a bakery employee who works near Roosevelt Avenue, which is notorious for prostitution, and she expressed apprehension over the changes that Mamdani may bring.

Zohran Mamdani keeps plan to decriminalize prostitution vague — as critics blast NYC mayoral frontrunner’s mealy-mouthed streak https://t.co/VI2elab8Vf pic.twitter.com/vY8Tqz0gzd

— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) September 23, 2025

"If it's the way it is now, I can’t imagine if he wants to do that," Casteneba said of Mamdani's decriminalization plans. "He should be more explicit of what he's going to do."