On Nov. 4, 2025, Zohran Mamdani was elected as the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of New York City, along with being the youngest mayor since 1892. While this election could have been lowkey underground like most other mayoral elections (such as the fact that I do not even know who the mayor of Wenatchee is), it was not because of Mamdani and his work at rallying people on the streets since the 2024 election of Donald Trump as president.
Both before and after the presidential election, Mamdani filmed and posted videos out on the streets of New York City, interviewing residents of the city on their political views and opinions, mostly revolving around the current election. He also told each interviewees his plans to run for mayor in the next election, tending to warrant little to no response.
I’m going to be honest, I didn’t know much about this guy until my dad showed me a video of him rapping in a food truck that had recently resurfaced during the election. In full transparency, this video was in fact not fire.
After I was introduced to the wide world of Mamdani, I did not turn back. The debate was set to happen a few days after my first introduction to this guy and I, of course, was very excited.
Mamdani did not disappoint.
This man pulled out some crazy one-liners mid debate while also talking up Curtis Sliwa who is his own entity entirely. Those quotes include but are not limited to:
“What I don’t have in experience I make up for in integrity. And what you don’t have in integrity, you could never make up for in experience.”
“It took Andrew Cuomo being beaten by a Muslim candidate in the democratic primary, for him to step foot in a mosque.”
“You sought to access her private gynecological records. She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her.”
“If you think the problem in this city is that my rent is too low, vote for him. If you know the problem in this city is that your rent is too high, vote for me.”
“The name is Mamdani, M-A-M-D-A-N-I. You should learn how to say it.”
While these one-liners are obviously very interesting, they alone did not win Mamdani the mayoral race.
While voting was open and near closing, residents of New York City would be able to find Mamdani rallying on the streets, whether that be door-to-door campaigning, or freestyling with students at New York University.
I believe his plans for each citizen of the city, along with his personability and honesty were the main factors in him winning the election.
As someone who one, doesn’t live in New York City and two, isn’t old enough to vote, I experienced massive FOMO for not getting to vote for this king.
