'Excited’ to be an immigrant mayor, Zohran Mamdani takes over the city administration with a $116 billion budget and 300,000 employees
New York: “Thank you, New York City. Together we made history. Now let’s get to work.” With these words, Zohran Kwame Mamdani became the most improbable electoral rise in the history of the largest city in the United States.
“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” the 34-year-old said while addressing his followers in an acceptance speech as he was elected as the city’s 111th executive. At a celebratory gathering in Brooklyn, Mamdani referenced the early 1900s socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debs.
As the newly elected Mayor of New York City, Mamdani is winning praise for his historic victory and progressive campaign. Elected on November 4, 2025, the Democratic Socialist and former state assemblyman is the city's first Muslim mayor and the youngest in over a century.
Casting his victory as a model of a “brave new course” for the country, Mamdani said, “No longer will we have to open a history book for proof that Democrats can dare to be great.” He reiterated his campaign promise to tackle the city’s affordability crisis through free fast buses, childcare for all, a freeze on rents on some residences, and more and better public housing.
Every New Yorker will feel the impact of the change he was about to bring, he added. About the hard work of fulfilling those promises, he said, “A great New Yorker once said that, while you campaign in poetry, you govern in prose”. That was a quote by the legendary Governor Mario Cuomo, who happens to be the father of Andrew Cuomo, whom Mamdani defeated in the mayoral race. And he added, “If that must be true, let the prose we write still rhyme and let us build a shining city for all”.
On the stage were his mother, movie director Mira Nair, and father Mahmood Mamdani, the Ugandan academic with roots in India. Addressing what were some of the criticisms he faced, Mamdani said, “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a Democratic Socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this”.
He has faced accusations of anti-Semitism in the way he led the anti-Israel protests. and in a conciliatory gesture, he said, “We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of anti-semitism”.
He added that it will also be “where the more than 1 million Muslims know that they belong, not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power”.
“No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election”, he said.
The mayor-elect has called on the “top talent” in the city to join him to build up the administration and help deliver his “affordability agenda.” This announcement came just a day after Mamdani announced the launch of his website for the transition period. He also announced an all-women transition team in his first press conference after winning the election.
His transition team will be co-chaired by former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, a Pakistani American. Three other prominent names in New York City will hold the position with her: Melanie Hartzog, president and CEO of the non-profit New York Foundling; Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of the non-profit United Way of New York City; and Maria Torres-Springer, NYC's former first deputy mayor.
