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Young, outspoken and unapologetically progressive— in the bustling streets of Queens, a new political force is rising. Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist and son of celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, is the frontrunner to make history as New York City’s first Indian-American and Muslim mayor. Mamdani’s campaign has captured the imagination of voters. In a city that is struggling with inequality, housing crises, and rising cost of living, he seems like a breath of fresh air. Beyond the slogans and the social media frenzy, including a public war of words with US President Donald Trump, is a candidate who is looking to reshape one of the world’s most complex cities. Born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised partly in South Africa before his family settled in New York when he was seven, Mamdani’s life reads like a story stitched across continents. After studying Africana Studies at Bowdoin College in Maine, Mamdani returned to Queens to work as a housing counsellor, helping families avoid eviction. According to him, it was in those cramped offices and crowded apartments that he learned more about New York’s politics than any textbook could teach. It is these lessons that would one day propel him from the community frontlines to the State Assembly and now, potentially, to City Hall. As per Al Jazeera, in 2020, Mamdani took on a four-term incumbent and won the Democratic primary for the 36th Assembly District in Queens, becoming the first South Asian man and the first Ugandan-born person to serve in the New York State Assembly. In 2025, the socialist is eyeing the throne of the mayor of New York City and has focused his campaign on affordability and structural inequality. The pillars of his campaign include free city buses, freezing subway fares and aggressive expansion of transit access. Apart from this, Mamdani has pushed for rent freezes for stabilised tenants, creation of a public-housing agency, city-run grocery stores to reduce food costs, and tax increases on the wealthy and corporations. Small-dollar donations, heavy engagement from younger and diverse voters, and digital outreach tailored to multi-ethnic communities have been powering Mamdani’s grassroots campaign. A poll in mid-2025 poll showed him holding a large lead among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters in the NYC mayoral contest. On the personal front, Mamdani also lets his creative side run. He released a single called “Nani” under the stage name Mr Cardamom in 2019 and the music video featured famed cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey. A practising Shia Muslim, he recently married Syrian-born illustrator Rama Duwaji, whose work has appeared in major outlets like The New Yorker and The Washington Post. The couple lives in Astoria, Queens. While Mamdani may have attracted the attention of the masses, his campaign is far from unopposed. Critics highlight his relative lack of executive experience as prior to his Assembly role, he spent only a few years in the workforce and had no major government-administration track record. According to the New York Post, some of his foreign-policy stances, notably his comments on Israel/Palestine and his identification with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, have drawn scrutiny and concern, especially among more moderate voters and Jewish New Yorkers. Also, a crucial question looms—Can a city as large and complex as New York implement sweeping reforms, maintain financial stability, and manage entrenched bureaucracies?
