New York City will soon get its new mayor. And this time, the city has elected its first Muslim to the top administrative city office.
Zohran Mamdani beat former governor Andrew Cuomo by a comfortable margin on November 4.
Mamdani’s victory is historic in all senses. Not only will he be the first Muslim mayor of New York City, but also the first of South Asian heritage and the first born in Africa.
Who is Zohran Mamdani?
The 34-year-old election winner was born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin and has lived in the United States since he was seven, becoming a naturalized US citizen in 2018.
He is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding," "Mississippi Masala") and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor and respected Africa expert -- leading some of his detractors to call him a "nepo baby."
He followed a path paved by other youngsters from elite liberal families, attending the elite Bronx High School of Science followed by Bowdoin College in Maine, a university seen as a bastion of progressive thought.
Mamdani is also a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, although his positions on Israel -- which he has called an "apartheid regime" while branding the war in Gaza a "genocide" -- have drawn the ire of some in the Jewish community.
Under the alias "Young Cardamom," he ventured into the world of rap in 2015, influenced by hip-hop group "Das Racist," which had two members of Indian origin who played with references and tropes from the subcontinent.
Mamdani's attempt to break into the competitive world of professional music did not last, with the performer-turned-politician calling himself a second-rate artist.
He took an interest into politics when he learned that rapper Himanshu Suri, who performed under the alias Heems, was supporting a candidate for city council -- and joined that campaign as an activist.
Mamdani went on to become a foreclosure prevention counselor, helping financially struggling homeowners avoid losing their homes.
He was elected in 2018 as a lawmaker from Queens, a melting pot of predominantly poor and migrant communities, representing the area in the New York State Assembly.
