34-year-old state lawmaker Zohran Kwame Mamdani will become New York City’s 111th mayor after winning over 50 per cent of the vote.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and raised in Queens and is the first Indian American mayor of New York City. He is a former rapper by the names Young Cardamom and Mr Cardamom.
He is a self-described democratic socialist (and Trump’s worst nightmare) and plans to make public buses free, raise minimum wage to $30 an hour and raise corporation tax to 11.5 per cent to fund his plans. Another promise he has made is to freeze rent in the city’s rent-stabilised apartments for the next four years, as well as lower the cost of childcare, which has pushed many New Yorkers out of the city.
Additionally, mental health workers will be able to answer certain emergency calls instead of the police in efforts to support those in mental health crises and ease the workload of the police force.
Mamdani has also said he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he entered the city.
Chart showing the election results – image credit Isla Barker with Canva
In his victory speech, he proudly said: “Today we have spoken in a clear voice: hope is alive.” He also condemned the oligarchy and authoritarianism in the country and addressed the president: “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up.”
Featured image credit: DmitryShein via Wikipedia Commons
Third year journalism student. 2025/2026 Lifestyle and Comment Editor at Brig. Published in The Yucatán Times, Mi Campeche and The Mourning Paper. Host of From the 40s with Air3Radio.
