Ghostbusters Gave Us Cinema’s Best New York City Mayor

As the son of filmmaker Mira Nair, New York’s newest mayor Zohran Mamdani knows the difference between Hollywood and reality. He knows that he’ll have a hard time living up to the expectations that have built up in the minds of New Yorkers after seeing their city’s politics depicted again and again. But does he know that the most daunting example is the one set by a guy named Lenny?

Mayor Lenny is the only name we have for the politician David Margulies plays in Ghostbusters and its first sequel, Ghostbusters II. Mayor Lenny has only a couple of scenes, and he’s never the guy we see dealing with Gozer or Vigo the Carpathian. Yet, in those few scenes, Mayor Lenny establishes himself as the greatest New York Mayor in movie history, and a fine example for any of his real-world counterparts.

What does Lenny do so well? First of all, he gets the right people for the job. As many have noted, Ghostbusters is a fantasy of free market capitalism, in which small business owners strike out on their own from the world of academia with an in-demand product and successfully market themselves, despite interference by government regulators. Even before they toast Gozer and the Terror Dogs, the Ghostbusters have become economic heroes when they successfully get the mayor to hire them.

For his part, Lenny looks good in this scene precisely because he’s the one doing the hiring. Instead of listening to the apparently anatomically impaired Walter Peck (William Atherton), with his regulations and bylaws, Lenny goes straight to the experts, the professionals can get the job done. He uses the taxpayers’ money wisely and efficiently.

But doesn’t he do so out of self-interest? Doesn’t he only hire the team after Venkman tells him that, if the Ghostbusters pull off the task, he will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters? Yes, as he should! As the mayor, those registered voters are his constituency. It may sound craven coming out of Venkman’s mouth (what doesn’t?), but his job is to look out for those registered voters, protecting their interests and their safety. He’s not acting out of his own self-interest. He’s acting as the mayor of one of the most important cities in the world.

In fact, Lenny is defined by his ability to pay attention to others. While he has little use for Peck’s conclusions, he does hear the man out. Moreover, he also listens to representatives from the fire department, the police, and other civil services. He even gets a visit from a high-ranking member of the Catholic church, to take spiritual guidance along with his logistical concerns.

In Ghostbusters II, the team has fallen on hard times as the city has forgotten what the Ghostbusters did for them. But Lenny hasn’t forgotten. So when pink slime starts manifesting around NYC, he calls the Ghostbusters once again.

And, once again, Lenny has others in the conference, someone providing a counterpoint to the Ghostbusters’ argument. He listens everyone in the room, and even though he initially rejects the team, he does so on the grounds of protecting his constiuency. “Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker’s God-given right,” he declares, valiantly defending his peoples’ freedoms.

In short, Lenny values expertise. He gets perspectives from all of the relevant sources and takes his time making a decision, constantly wondering what will best for the people he represents. Lenny values the interests of New Yorkers. Lenny values the rule of law.

Obviously, it’s too early to know if Mayor Mamdani will also put prioritize, citizens’ rights, and the rule of law. We certainly hope he will, but the real world has given us too many examples to just take it on faith. But if he can do just a fraction of what Mayor Lenny did, then millions of registered voters can rest easy, knowing they can still be miserable and treat other people like dirt.