In Addison's Vitruvian Park on Sunday, those old enough to remember Nicolas Maduro's rise to power gathered alongside those who've always lived under his reign to celebrate the capture of the Venezuelan leader.

In a new year that promises to be as wretched, rancorous and bloody as the last one - cue oil lust and delusions of empire - we opt to celebrate the stirring hope and promise of newly elected Democratic Socialist and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has embraced diversity, collectivism, and the rare chance to shape "lives we (will) fill with freedom" when for too long "freedom has belonged only to those who can afford to buy it.