Zohran Mamdani Elected Mayor of New York City

Photo Credit: Amir Hamja via The New York Times

After a record-breaking campaign, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City on Nov. 4, winning the race against independent Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. In October 2024, Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for the mayoral race and was subsequently chosen as the Democratic nominee over Andrew Cuomo in June. 

One of Mamdani’s main campaign promises was universal childcare for children six weeks old to five years old. He plans to implement this by increasing taxes by 2 per cent for people with incomes of $1 million or more, as well as increasing the corporate tax rate to 11.5 per cent. 

Along with universal childcare, Mamdani plans to make city buses free to address growing cost-of-living concerns in the city. According to The New York Times, removing bus fares across the city would cost $800 million. Additionally, by implementing more bus lanes and loading zones, Mamdani hopes to allow buses to move more quickly throughout the city. 

 Another policy that caught voters’ attention was Mamdani’s “freeze the rent” proposal. New York has been dealing with a housing crisis and a consistent rise in rent costs for decades, with over 2 million New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized housing. While the mayor does not have the power to control rent increases, they do appoint nine board members to the Rent Guidelines Board. This board sets the rates each year for rent-stabilized apartments. Many of the current board members' terms are coming to an end, and next, Mamdani plans to appoint members who “understand that landlords are doing just fine.” 

“Last March, the board found that landlord incomes rose by nearly twice the increase of their expenses,” Mamdani said in a campaign video. 

Throughout his campaign, Mamdani attracted voters with bright and unique campaign visuals, in contrast to the usual campaign colours and lettering. The designer of the campaign visuals, Aneesh Bhoopathy, said “the campaign drew from the vibrant primary colours that help bodegas, yellow cabs, hot dog vendors and other small businesses stand out amid the city bustle.” The font spelling out Mamdani’s name is reminiscent of Bollywood and hand-painted signs, evoking feelings of nostalgia whilst simultaneously pulling from Mamdani’s Indian heritage. These colours and overall visuals were even wearable, with merchandise like the “Hot Girls For Zohran” t-shirt spotted on celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski. 

In his acceptance speech on Nov. 4, Mamdani declared that “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built for immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight led by an immigrant.” 

On Nov. 21, Mamdani and US President Donald Trump met in the White House. In a press meeting, they were both asked about their disagreements and distasteful views that they had shared in the past about each other, and if those feelings were still held at the time. Mamdani and Trump both professed that their top priority is to better New York. “The meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement– [the meeting] focused on the shared purpose we have of serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani shared. “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” added Trump.