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When he announced his run for mayor last October, Zohran Mamdani He was a state MLA about whom most people were unaware. new york City dweller.
But that was before the 34-year-old democratic socialist took the national political scene by storm with her surprise upset at the former New York governor. Andrew Cuomo in june democratic primary.
On Tuesday, Mamdani completed his political rise by again defeating Cuomo as well as Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the general election.
The former foreclosure prevention consultant and one-time rapper has become the city’s first Muslim mayor, the first born in Africa and the first of South Asian heritage – not to mention its youngest mayor in more than a century.
Mamdani promised New Yorkers in his victory speech, “I will wake up every morning with one purpose: to make this city better for you than it was the day before.”
Here’s a look at the next chief executive of America’s largest city:
Mamdani’s progressive promises for New York City
Mamdani left with an optimistic vision for New York City.
His campaign was filled with big policies aimed at reducing the cost of everyday life for New Yorkers, ranging from free child care and free buses to rent freezes for people living in rent-regulated apartments and new affordable housing – much of it funded by raising taxes on the wealthy.
He has also proposed starting a pilot program for city-run grocery stores as a way to combat high food prices.
Since his Democratic primary victory, Mamdani has moderated some of his more polarizing rhetoric, particularly around law enforcement.
He endorsed a 2020 post calling the New York Police Department “racist” and publicly apologized to NYPD officers.
While Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he has said he is running on its own platform and does not accept all of the activist group’s priorities, which include ending mandatory prison time for certain crimes and cutting police budgets.
NYC’s first Muslim mayor
Mamdani leaned on his faith amid anti-Muslim rhetoric in the final weeks of the campaign.
Outside a Bronx mosque in late October, he spoke in emotional terms about the “insults” long faced by the city’s Muslim population, and vowed to advance their identity.
“I wouldn’t change who I am, how I eat, or the faith I’m proud to call my own,” he said. “But there’s one thing I would change. I would no longer find myself in the shadows. I would find myself in the light.”
famous filmmaker mother
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda to Indian parents and became a US citizen in 2018, shortly after graduating from college.
He lived briefly in Cape Town, South Africa with his family before moving to New York City when he was 7 years old.
Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning filmmaker whose credits include “Monsoon Wedding,” “The Namesake” and “Mississippi Masala.” His father, Mahmoud Mamdani, is a professor of anthropology at Columbia University.
Mamdani married Syrian American artist Rama Duwaji earlier this year. These couples, who met on dating app Hinge, live in Astoria area of the city. queens,
once a budding rapper
Mamdani attended the Bronx High School of Science, where he co-founded the prestigious public school’s first cricket team, according to his legislative biography.
She graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine in 2014, where she earned a degree in Africana studies and co-founded her college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
After college, he worked as a foreclosure prevention consultant in Queens, helping residents avoid eviction, a job he says inspired him to run for public office.
Mamdani also played a notable role in the local hip-hop scene, rapping under the aliases Young Cardamom and later Mr. Cardamom. During his first run for state legislator, Mamdani alluded to his brief foray into music, describing himself as a “B-list rapper”.
Early political career
Mamdani gained influence in local politics while working on campaigns for Democratic candidates in Queens and Brooklyn.
He was first elected to the New York Assembly in 2020, defeating the longtime Democratic incumbent for the Queens district covering Astoria and surrounding areas. He has easily won re-election twice.
The Democratic Socialists’ most notable legislative accomplishment was pushing a pilot program that made a handful of city buses free for a year. He has also proposed legislation banning nonprofits from “engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”
Mamdani’s opponents, notably Cuomo, dismissed him as woefully unprepared to manage the complexities of running America’s largest city.
But Mamdani presented his relative inexperience as a potential asset, saying in the mayoral debate that he was “proud” that he did not have the “experience of corruption, scandal and disgrace” that Cuomo did.
viral campaign video
Mamdani used buzzy campaign videos—many of which made references to Bollywood and his Indian heritage—to help make inroads among voters outside his part of Queens.
On New Year’s Day, he participated in the annual polar plunge into the cold waters of Coney Island in a full dress suit to foil his plan to “freeze” the rent.
He interviewed food cart vendors about “halal-inflation” and humorously promised to make the city’s beloved chicken over rice lunch “eight bucks again.”
In the TikTok video, he appealed to voters of color by speaking in Spanish, Bengali and other languages.
During his general election campaign, the viral clip was accompanied by popular television commercials – including on-theme commercials that aired during “The Golden Bachelor,” “Survivor” and The Knicks’ season opener.
pro-palestine views
A longtime supporter of Palestinian rights, Mamdani continued his harsh criticism of Israel – long seen as the third rail in New York politics – through his campaign.
Mamdani has accused the Israeli government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and has said that Israel should continue to exist as a “state with equal rights for all” rather than a “Jewish state”.
He was attacked by his opponents and many leaders of the Jewish community for his stance, with Cuomo accusing Mamdani of “fostering anti-Semitism”.
After facing criticism early in the race for refusing to condemn the phrase “globalization of the intifada”, Mamdani vowed to discourage others from using it moving forward. He also met with rabbis and attended a synagogue during the High Holy Days to attract Jewish voters.
In his victory remarks Tuesday, he pledged that City Hall will stand up against anti-Semitism under his leadership.
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Follow Philip Marcelo on X at twitter.com/philmarcelo.