Stand by Your Mam: NYC’s New Mayor-Elect
A true mazel tov for eight million taxpayers: New York City’s mayor-elect has a wife, though she so far hasn’t said a word publicly. Susan Wagner, whose husband Robert F. Wagner was first elected mayor in 1953, shared her thoughts with me:
“No fun place to be. Our official car wasn’t safe—the springs were broken. Picking up dignitaries like General de Gaulle, with wind blowing in on both sides? The car always broke down.”
Susan, tall, blond, and stylish in a chic blue suit (“I bought it on sale,” she confided), offered some advice, “Politician’s wives need a sense of humor. Plus patience, thick skin, and the inability to hear remarks like, ‘I’ve seen that dress on her before.’ I answer, ‘And you’ll see it again!’”
From a meeting in progress next door, stray commissioners wandered through, while a secretary handed Susan messages and a maid dusted nearby photos of Nehru, Kennedy, and Queen Elizabeth. Meetings continued to her left; phones rang all around.
“Politics are vicious. I anticipated it would be rough, but not quite this horrible. I’m OK because it’s my husband’s life. Our son was upset hearing his father attacked—he’s seen his father misquoted and has missed school days.
I wish we had some private time. Meetings are constant. Once, for the first time in weeks, we had dinner at home. But he dashed out afterward to make a speech. Everybody’s trying to produce him at too many places. If I look fast, I can see him across a dais. It gets lonely. I’m marooned upstairs, but we’re never together. I can’t even have breakfast with him because who knows who’s going to be here.”
And how about the food bills? “A pushier person—maybe this wouldn’t bother them, but I’m sensitive. Bills add up when you’re not spending your own money. Nobody mentions Parks Department employees and police who grab big meals here midday. Plus bacon and eggs every morning!”
“It’s constant official entertaining. Aside from big affairs with 1,500 guests on the lawn, we clock about 600 a week, not counting the men who meet him on business.”
Well, lotsa luck, Mrs. Mamdani. That’s also what we think.
Lately, there’s been much discussion about genetically altered fruits and vegetables. Some food specialists—even one who says he’s trying to splice a head of cabbage with a razor blade—are looking to grow coleslaw. OK by me. I don’t care.
But I have a friend who says they better not start fooling around with the Jolly Green Giant’s niblets.
https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/opinion/mayor-robert-wagners-wife-knew-being-nycs-first-lady-is-no-easy-task-politics-are-vicious/
