Zohran Mamdani: A Hope for a Better Tomorrow
Taken by Bingjiefu He; Image via Wikimedia
On the 4th of November, Zohran Mamdani, a progressive assemblyman from Queens, was elected mayor of New York City. The 34-year-old Democratic candidate will soon be inaugurated as the 111th Mayor of the Big Apple, securing more than 50% of the vote to become the first Muslim to lead the city of 8.5 million.
Mamdani’s rise is nothing but spectacular. Announcing his run for the 36th State Assembly district in October 2019, he defeated five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas. He has since won three consecutive elections, securing his third term in 2024.
But Mamdani is not just a typical political figure offering meagre change in times of crisis and cashing the cheque afterwards. He is dedicated to his community and unwavering in his support for defending the working class. In 2021, he joined efforts to safeguard New York taxi drivers from excessive medallion costs, protecting the city’s iconic yellow cabs from rising costs. Not only did he take an active role in campaigning, but he also joined the drivers in a hunger strike. After 15 days of fasting, the Taxi and Limousine Commission agreed to new plans, ensuring drivers would face more manageable medallion payments. Mamdani viewed the settlement as a much-needed escalatory tactic to ensure taxi drivers were heard.
When the same taxi drivers were committing suicide, Mamdani was one of the few figures within New York City politics willing to actually stand with them. British politicians, on any level, rarely go on hunger strike in solidarity with the working class; more often, family members of those affected, rather than politicians with the power to enact meaningful policy, drive the necessary change. Here was a first-term assemblyman doing his part to support his citizens. Nevertheless, the mainstream media seems shocked by the scale of support he has since received - support provided without hesitation or question.
Since then, Mamdani has become a powerful voice for thousands in New York - a city whose darkest day was weaponised by America’s “right” to spread Islamophobia. Both the sitting President of the United States and the independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, a disgraced former governor who sued for the gynaecological records of women he was alleged to have assaulted, have referred to the democratic socialist as a “terrorist sympathiser”.
These persistent attacks against a man who represented the Uzbek nurses, the Senegalese taxi drivers, and the Ethiopian aunties demonstrate that hate still rules American politics. But its grasp is slipping; a chord is being struck with the electorate. A man who declared that “New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant” is now responsible for the heart of America’s economy.
Mamdani’s message of hope, spread in multiple languages, connecting with voters who had felt left behind by politics, was a reminder to the people of New York that they do belong to a community, to a city that can stand as one to speak out against fascism, even if it risks being arrested.
As he prepares to take office in 2026, Mamdani represents a progressive future for New York. A future where affordability is a reality – with rent freezes on rent-stabilised apartments across the five boroughs, city-owned grocery stores, no-cost childcare, and families protected from sudden financial shocks. A future where the citizens of New York City can thrive, not just survive. This election reflects a city that is prepared for unity - one that stands for the many, not for the few.