New York's New Head

Article by Mir and Shevaun (13.12.2025)

A Basic Overview:

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who started his candidacy in October 2024, had won the vote for the Mayor of New York with over 50 percent on November 4th, 2025. He is a democratic socialist whose campaign highly relied on progressive promises such as universal childcare, stabilized housing, and raising the minimum wage to $30 USD by 2030.

Who is Mamdani?

He is a 34-year-old man born in Kampala, Uganda, though he is of Indian descent. He moved to New York at the young age of seven because his father, Mahmood Mamdani, received a job opportunity at Columbia University. All this technically clarifies Mamdani as an immigrant, though he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. He attended a public school called Bronx High School of Science, from where he went on to attend Bowdoin College in Maine where he studied Africana Studies. That is where he co-founded a group called Students for Justice in Palestine. He is now married to Rama Sawaf Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist.

His Family:

Mamdani and his wife Rama met on Hinge and had an instant spark. They got engaged in Dubai and were married in a simple civil service.

Why was he elected?

Mamdani is focusing on the people and takes on progressive stances on everyday issues and pushes concrete, relatable policies. He does not function like a traditional politician would. He has pitched solutions to economic strains such as the cost of living, which highly appealed to the working-class and middle-class voters who are struggling with this. He has an extremely wide reach and seems to have a large impact on young adults, considering that 75 percent of voters between the ages 18-29 support him.

How does he connect with the people?

Mamdani is well known throughout the media for being extremely approachable and conversational. Unlike other politicians, it is rather likely that he will talk with voters on the streets or in public. He is extremely vocal on social media to reach age demographics across the board. He even appears in podcasts and street interviews such as “Are You Okay” and “Subway Talks with Kareem Rahma” where he talks about his personal mission in politics and how he is planning on bettering the state of New York. His appeal to the people is less about elite politics and more about making city governance feel relevant to the everyday lives of New Yorkers.

What were his promises?

The first main point that should be brought up is rent freeze and housing. This entails all rent-stabilized apartments having their rent frozen for four years, meaning they cannot raise the rent above the current amount. Another adjacent theme is building 200,000 new and affordable apartments.

Though not yet in his official term, he was elected over a month ago on the 4th of November. Mamdani has already made many changes. After the recent immigration enforcement raid in Manhattan, Mamdani released a video telling immigrant New Yorkers about their rights to refuse interactions with the enforcement agency and asserting his commitment to protecting immigrant communities. 

Mamdani also had a meeting with President Donald Trump, where they debated around the public state of New York. It started on a harsh personal basis but flowed into a negotiation centered on shared problems. From both sides, the tone has softened, as they are now in a stable relationship with each other despite enormous differences. Trump speaks well of Mamdani and seems interested in hearing more from him in collaboration with New York. He has even invited him to the White House in the future.

A large question is what else we can expect from Mamdani due to his many goals for the city of New York, but we are ready for them to come and look forward to reporting more on the topic.

Sources: 

deutschlandfunk.de. “Zohran Mamdani – Wer Ist Der Neue Bürgermeister Von NY Und Was Will Er Genau?” Deutschlandfunk, 11 May 2025, www.deutschlandfunk.de/zohran-mamdani-new-york-usa-buergermeister-wahl-100.html. Accessed 11 Dec. 2025.

Dev, Atul. “How Mamdani Is Defying Immigrant Expectations by Embracing His Identity: ‘His Boldness Resonates.’” The Guardian, 10 Nov. 2025, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/09/zohran-mamdani-politics-immigrant-identity.

Cartner-Morley, Jess. “Gen Z’s ‘First Lady’: How Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s Wife, Is Reshaping Political Fashion.” The Guardian, 12 Nov. 2025, www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025/nov/12/rama-duwaji-zohran-mamdani-style-politics.

Goodwin, Grace Eliza. What to Know About Zohran Mamdani and What He Wants to Do as New York City Mayor. 5 Nov. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cew44175vklo.

“Trump Lobt Künftigen Bürgermeister Mamdani Nach Treffen Im Weißen Haus.” tagesschau.de, 22 Nov. 2025, www.tagesschau.de/ausland/amerika/trump-mamdani-100.html.

Epstein, Kayla. Takeaways From Trump and Mamdani’s Surprisingly Cordial Meeting. 22 Nov. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgqd42gl0qo.

Empson, Olivia. “Mamdani Reiterates Trump Is a ‘Fascist’ Just Days After Cordial Meeting.” The Guardian, 24 Nov. 2025, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/23/mamdani-trump-fascist.

“Mamdani’s Meeting With Trump Scrambled the MAGA-Sphere.” The New York Times, Nov. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/style/mamdani-trump-reactions-fuentes-bannon.html.