Probably because they're cultivating a readership of rich liberals who actually have the money to donate and pay. The media cannot be representative of popular sentiments under a capitalist system, and it only becomes worse with increasing wealth inequality. Economics bend the news to be a propaganda arm of wealthy interests more than a way to provide accurate news. Those with money pay to print what they want to hear and want other people to hear. The world is only built for those with power.
I think it's more that the owner is an oligarch than it is the readers wanting this stuff. The Times readership likes Mamdani a lot more than the paper does.