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(New York, NY) — How did a man born in Uganda wind up a frontrunner in the race for New York City Mayor? Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. The family immigrated to South Africa when he was five years old and then to the United States when he was seven, settling in New York City. A graduate of the NYC Public School System, he attended the Bronx High School of Science and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where he co-founded his college’s first Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and later organize across the country. He practices the Muslim faith. A few years later in 2018, he became naturalized as an American citizen.
Prior to representing the 36th Assembly District and its neighborhoods of Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, and Astoria Heights, Zohran worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counselor. Aside from his position as Assemblyman, he has no professional political experience.
Mamdani declared his intention to run for New York City Mayor in October of 2024, and in June of 2025 went on to win the Democratic primary, defeating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset victory. Cuomo decided to run as an Independent, as did incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who later dropped out of the race. Republican Curtis Sliwa is also on the ballot.
Zohran Mamdani says it’s too early to give President Trump credit for the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. In an interview with Fox News, the Democratic Socialist candidate for New York City mayor said he wants to see lasting peace before any credit is given. Mamdani again said if elected, he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to New York, based on a war crimes warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Mamdani reiterated his number one issue if elected is making New York City affordable for working-class people. His platform includes freezing the rents on rent-stabilized housing. As Mayor, Zohran wants to put our public dollars to work and triple the City’s production of permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes – constructing 200,000 new units over the next 10 years. He also promises to crack down on bad landlords and prevent deed-theft for homeowners.
His platform also includes creating city-owned and operated grocery stores, which buy and sell at wholesale, have centralized warehouses and source locally when possible. He promises fast and free buses and to fight corporate exploitation (as per ZohranforNYC.com). He plans to implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high quality programming for all families. And he will bring up wages for childcare workers.
How all these plans, programs and projects will be funded is, indeed, a mystery. He DOES claim he will raise the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey’s 11.5%, bringing in $5 billion, and he will tax the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers—those earning above $1 million annually—a flat 2% tax. This may backfire driving big business out of New York City.
Regarding his position on the NYPD:
- In 2020, following the killing of George Floyd, Mamdani advocated for defunding the New York Police Department (NYPD). He tweeted that the department was “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety”. In 2022, he also called for a $3 billion cut to the department’s budget.
- Present position: As the leading Democratic nominee for mayor, he has distanced himself from his earlier calls to defund the police.
- He now says his 2020 comments were made in a moment of frustration and do not reflect his current views.
- Mamdani has since apologized for his past remarks in meetings with rank-and-file officers.
- He currently states that the NYPD will be a “critical partner” in delivering public safety and that he supports maintaining current staffing levels.
- Proposals for reform: While no longer calling for deep budget cuts, he continues to advocate for specific changes to policing:
- New agency for non-violent incidents: He proposes creating a “Department of Community Safety” to handle issues like mental health crises and homelessness, freeing police to focus on violent crime.
- Specific cuts: He still aims to eliminate the NYPD’s overtime budget and disband the Strategic Response Group, a unit used to respond to protests
After the first debate for Mamdani, Independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa on October 16th, a second debate is planned for October 22nd.
