How Zahran Mamdani rose from Queens lawmaker to mayor of New York

NEW YORK (AP) — When Zahran Mamdani announced his run for mayor last October, he was a state lawmaker unknown to most New Yorkers.

But that was before the 34-year-old Democratic socialist crashed the national political scene with a stunning upset of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June.

He watches: Zahran Mamdani addresses his supporters after his victory in the New York City mayoral race

On Tuesday, Mamdani completed his political rise, once again defeating Cuomo, as well as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, in the general election.

The former foreclosure prevention consultant and former rapper became the city’s first Muslim mayor, its first born in Africa, and its first of South Asian descent — not to mention its youngest mayor in more than a century.

“I will wake up every morning with one goal: to make this city better for you than it was the day before,” Mamdani promised New Yorkers in his victory speech.

Here’s a look at the next CEO of America’s largest city.

Mamdani’s progressive promises for New York City

Mamdani ran with an optimistic vision for New York City.

His campaign was packed with big policies aimed at lowering the cost of living for ordinary New Yorkers, from free child care and free buses to rent freezes for people living in rent-regulated apartments and new affordable housing — much of it financed by higher taxes on the wealthy.

He also suggested launching a pilot program for city-run grocery stores as a way to combat rising food prices.

Since winning the Democratic primary, Mamdani has toned down some of his more polarizing rhetoric, especially regarding law enforcement.

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He retracted a 2020 post calling for a “defund” of the New York Police Department and publicly apologized to NYPD officers for calling the department “racist” in another social media post.

Although Mamdani is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he said he is running on his own distinct platform and does not embrace all of the activist group’s priorities, which included ending mandatory prison sentences for some crimes and cutting police budgets.

The first Muslim mayor of New York City

Mamdani relied on his faith amid the anti-Muslim rhetoric that characterized the final weeks of the campaign.

In late October, outside a Bronx mosque he spoke in emotional terms about the “insults” the city’s long-standing Muslim residents have faced, and vowed to continue embracing his identity.

“I will not change my identity, the way I eat, or the faith that I am proud to call my faith,” he said. “But there is one thing I will change. I will no longer search for myself in the shadows. I will find myself in the light.”

The mother of the famous director

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to Indian parents, and became a US citizen in 2018, shortly after graduating from college.

He lived with his family briefly in Cape Town, South Africa, before moving to New York City when he was seven years old.

He watches: How Mamdani’s win could change New York City and the Democratic Party

Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning film director whose credits include “Monsoon Wedding,” “The Namesake” and “Mississippi Masala.” His father, Mahmoud Mamdani, is a professor of anthropology at Columbia University.

Mamdani married Rama Al-Dawaji, a Syrian-American artist, earlier this year. The couple, who met on the dating app Hinge, live in the city’s Astoria neighborhood of Queens.

Once a fledgling 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.

He graduated in 2014 from Bowdoin College in Maine, where he earned a degree in Africana Studies and co-founded his college chapter, Students for Justice in Palestine.

After college, he worked as a foreclosure prevention consultant in Queens, where he helped residents avoid eviction, a job he says inspired him to run for public office.

Mamdani also had a notable side hustle in the local hip-hop scene, singing under the moniker Young Cardamom and later Mr. Mamdani. Cardamom. During his first run for state representative, Mamdani noted his brief foray into music, describing himself as a “second-rate rapper.”

The beginning of his political career

Mamdani gained significant experience in local politics by working on the campaigns of Democratic candidates in Queens and Brooklyn.

He was first elected to the New York Assembly in 2020, unseating the longtime Democratic incumbent for the Queens district covering Astoria and the surrounding boroughs. He easily won re-election twice.

Read more: Record turnout in New York City as Mamdani faces Cuomo in generational battle for mayor

The Democratic Socialist’s most notable legislative achievement was pushing through a pilot program that made a number of city buses free for a year. He also proposed legislation prohibiting non-profit organizations from “engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”

Mamdani’s opponents, especially Cuomo, dismissed him as woefully unprepared to manage the complexities of running America’s largest city.

But Mamdani listed his relative inexperience as a potential asset, saying in a mayoral debate that he was “proud” that he did not have Cuomo’s “experience of corruption, scandal and disgrace.”

Viral campaign videos

Mamdani has used his campaign videos — many of which contain vague references to Bollywood and his Indian heritage — to help make inroads with voters outside his bracket of Queens.

On New Year’s Day, he took part in the annual polar plunge in the cold waters off Coney Island in a full suit to break his plan to “freeze” rents.

He interviewed food truck vendors about “sweet inflation” and humorously pledged to make the city’s beloved chicken on rice lunches “for eight dollars again.”

In his TikTok videos, he appealed to voters of color by speaking Spanish, Bengali and other languages.

During his general election campaign, the viral clips were joined by talked-about TV ads — with ads on the theme that aired during “The Golden Bachelor,” “Survivor” and the Knicks’ season opener.

Pro-Palestinian views

A longtime supporter of Palestinian rights, Mamdani continued his relentless criticism of Israel — long seen as the third rail in New York politics — during his campaign.

Mamdani accused the Israeli government of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and said that Israel should exist “as a state with equal rights” for all, and not a “Jewish state.”

He has been harshly criticized by his opponents and many leaders in the Jewish community for his positions, with Cuomo accusing Mamdani of “stoking anti-Semitism.”

After facing criticism early in the race for refusing to denounce the phrase “globalization of uprising,” Mamdani vowed to discourage others from using it moving forward. He also met rabbis and attended synagogue during the High Holy Days where he courted Jewish voters.

In his victory speech on Tuesday, he pledged that the City Council under his leadership would stand up against anti-Semitism.