Zohran Mamdani campaigning (Source: Getty Images)

Warta Kema – On Sunday (29/06/25), Zohran Mamdani’s YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “A New Dawn for New York City”. The event of the video, which took place five days earlier, depicts his victory speech after clutching the Democratic party nominee for the 2025 New York City mayoral election. In it, Mamdani proudly announced that “We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” echoing his campaign promise of making New York an affordable city for everyone, regardless of their gender, race, or religion. He also made a bold statement in which he will use his power as the mayor to reject President Trump’s fascist tendencies, harkening back to Trump’s slow slide to authoritarianism. With this, New York City has its very first democratic socialist  Muslim mayoral candidate.

The rise of Zohran Mamdani is nothing short of an incredible feat. Practically no one knew who Mamdani was before his candidacy. The hip-hop artist-turned-assemblyman then managed to maintain a grassroots campaign that united the people of the lower-class borough in a fight against the political and class elites of New York. Thanks to this, he went from what is essentially seen as a protest candidate with only 1% chance of winning to a lead candidate in the wider mayoral election.

Mamdani’s political career started when he became the representative of New York’s 36th State Assembly district in 2021, running on the platform of racial justice, pandemic activism, and housing equality. Ever since day one, he’s always been backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the largest left-leaning organization in the United States and an organization that Mamdani is happy to be associated with. As a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Mamdani and a coalition of other like-minded assemblypeople push for progressive agendas such as higher taxes for the wealthy, easier access to housing relief, and better public transport service. He even participated in a hunger strike alongside taxi drivers to relieve millions of dollars of debt caused by increasing competition from online ride and the recent pandemic.

On October 23, 2024, Mamdani officially announced that he will be running for the mayoral position in the 2025 election. In the so-called city that ‘never sleeps’ and the heart of American capitalism, Mamdani campaigned for an affordable-all plan. This includes, but not limited to, free citywide public transport service, affordable city-owned groceries, universal childcare, affordable housing, and rent freezing. 

Furthermore, he also came up with a proposal to tax richer neighborhoods, concluding that rich New Yorkers live a far more prosperous life at the expense of the working class, who are more often than not people of color, living a less than stellar life. It is no surprise then that he held a belief that no one should be a billionaire, at least not until everyone lived a prosperous life.

Some critics questioned this ambition on the basis of who will pay for all these assuredly expensive programs. To this, Zohran answered with a basic plan to tax the rich even more. 

A result of President Ronald Reagan’s failed policy of “trickle-down economics” during his term in the 80s is that the rich enjoy more lax tax payments. The policy advocates that it is natural for the rich to be taxed less as any profit they and their corporations make will “trickle down” to other sectors of the economy through investments and job creation. Therefore, tax cuts and benefits must be granted to million-dollar corporations, as the bigger the profit they make, the bigger it will trickle to the average Joe.

It turns out, millionaires and billionaires don’t actually care about the working class and more about stuffing their own pockets full of money. Tax cuts for the rich mean that the heavy burden of paying the lion’s share of it fell to the working class. The profit doesn’t necessarily trickle down, it ends up being more like tightly contained in one place so as to not let any single drop escape its grasp. In the end, as always, a pure capitalist economic system only works for the people at the top. And nowhere else does this stark divide is put on display more brazenly than the business capital of the world itself, New York City. This was a fact that Zohran himself promises to change as he is reported to be saying that New Yorkers, despite living in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the world, have a one in four chance of living in poverty.

Critics leaned heavily on the accusation that Zohran is a hardline communist, hellbent on destroying the simple American way of life. Not the least of which, the president himself, Donald Trump. Trump had repeatedly threatened the city of New York that he would cut federal funding to the city if they let the “pure communist” Mamdani win. This slander couldn’t be farther from the truth as Zohran repeatedly called himself a democratic socialist, not a full-blown communist. When communists advocate for a total revolution to dethrone the ruling class, which is more likely through violent means, democratic socialists much prefer a peaceful, gradual reform through democratic process. Based on this, Zohran is proud to call himself one, much to the chagrin of the White House.

Besides his economic policy, his friendly stance towards the Palestinian people and advocacy groups earned him an enemy in the zionist-friendly political establishment. Many called him antisemitic for taking a stand against the atrocities committed by the Israeli government and for refusing to condemn the slogan “Globalize the intifada”. For many Jewish people, the slogan is an antisemitic call for violence against all Jews. For Zohran, however, the slogan is, as it is, a “desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.” He has frequently taken a stand against antisemitism, both from his supporters and opponents, claiming that the problem is centered at the genocidal government rather than the people who coincidentally shares the same faith as it.

On the topic of faith, if elected, Zohran will be the first Muslim mayor in the city. In a city where hundreds of faiths, cultures, and values intermingle with each other, Zohran carries the promise of building bridges across communities. With America itself being a huge melting pot, New York then is the furnace that melts all elements together in a pluralistic society, as the city is one of the top spots for immigrants to come into the country from all over the world. The Statue of Liberty and her torch, standing proudly on the Hudson River, guide the people looking for a better life. A symbol of freedom and promises of equality for all. An invitation for nations around the world to give her their tired, their poor, their huddled masses yearning to breathe free. New York is the American Dream made flesh. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. However, just like that dream, New York has since become twisted by the forces of intolerance.

New Yorkers are people of many communities. Communities who, as of right now, felt neglected in the face of a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant (WASP)-dominated city. The city where businessmen worth hundreds of billions of dollars spat on the working class below from their high-rise apartment. The apartment that, had those working class not exist in the first place, wouldn’t even be there. New Yorkers are tired of the white, predatory capitalist system of their city’s political establishment. They want change and they want it now.

As of September, the mayoral race is contested between Zohran for the Democrats, activist and radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa for the Republicans, and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo running as an independent. The incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, had just dropped out of the race, citing the insurmountable fight against the current candidates. With this withdrawal, the three men left standing butt heads with each other in one of the most important mayoral elections in the history of the city.

Reporter: Maheswara Adla Wibowo

Editor: Syafina Ristia Putri, Andrea Hillary Gusandi