Zohran Mamdani is a 33-year-old New York State assemblyman who just made history by becoming the New York City mayor. He is the first Muslim candidate ever to win that spot, which is truly impressive. Mamdani was born in Uganda and moved to Queens when he was seven, and he grew up in a family full of academics and artists. His mom is filmmaker Mira Nair, and his dad teaches at Columbia. He went to Bronx Science for high school and then Bowdoin College, where he studied Africana Studies and got involved in activism.
Before being a politician, Mamdani was a housing counselor, aiding evicted individuals in Queens. This is a big part of his whole political vibe: focusing on the regular New Yorker, not big donors. On several occasions, he talks about the high cost of living in the city and how one in four people live in poverty. He wants free bus service across the city, rent freezes, universal childcare for little kids, and even city-owned grocery stores to lower food prices. It is definitely a bold plan, rooted in aiding those who are struggling.
His campaign contained a creative side too. To promote rent freezes, he jumped into an ocean, and to point out food insecurity, he broke his Ramadan fast on the subway train. He made videos in Urdu and Spanish to connect with New Yorkers from different backgrounds. His goal was to actually run a campaign as vibrant as the city, not to pretend to be someone he was not…