From state lawmaker to NYC's Mayor: Mamdani's success story will inspire generations

New York, Jan 1 (PTI) Indian-descent democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's stunning rise from state lawmaker to the Mayor of America's largest city will inspire generations, particularly the Indian-American community.

Mamdani is the first Muslim, the first Indian-origin, the first born in Africa, and the second-youngest to become New York Mayor.

The 34-year-old democrat was formally sworn in on a Quran as New York City’s 112th Mayor in a private ceremony held just moments into the New Year in an old subway station here.

He had earlier said that his swearing-in marks the “beginning of a new era for the city that puts working New Yorkers front and centre.” Mamdani, who campaigned on a promise to tackle the affordability crisis in one of the world's most expensive cities, defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor in November.

With his victory, New York City and the US entered a new political and ideological era with the democratic socialist now at the helm of the citadel of capitalism.

Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani.

He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

Mamdani attended Bronx High School of Science and received a Bachelor's Degree in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College.

In high school, he co-founded his school’s first-ever cricket team, which went on to participate in the Public School Athletic League’s inaugural cricket season, his campaign profile said.

He worked as a foreclosure prevention housing counsellor, helping low-income homeowners of colour across Queens fight off eviction and stay in their homes, according to his official profile.

His work led him to run for office and he was first elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 and represented the 36th Assembly District and its neighbourhoods of Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway and Astoria Heights.

Mamdani, who was running to lower the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers, garnered support among the youth and working-class New Yorkers, who have been reeling under the burden of high costs and job insecurities amid a tough economic and political climate in the country.

He promised to “lower costs and make life easier” for New Yorkers as the city gets “too expensive”.

Mamdani has vowed that as Mayor, he will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilised tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.

Promising fast, fare-free buses, his campaign had said that as Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way.

Mamdani would also implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high-quality programming for all families.

With food prices out of control, his campaign also promised that as Mayor, he would create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.

Mamdani has a plan to bring down the cost-of-living through city-owned grocery stores, universal childcare, and other bold proposals, and he knows exactly how to pay for it, too, the campaign had said.

During his campaign, Mamdani faced questions and scepticism about his relative inexperience as a lawmaker and whether he is fit to run a city that has a budget of more than USD 100 billion.

“I believe that I am the best qualified for this position because of a recognition of the greatest challenge that the city faces, and that challenge is affordability,” Mamdani had told the New York Times.

In a fiery victory speech, Mamdani had challenged President Donald Trump on immigration, heralded the toppling of "political dynasty” and said his election symbolises “hope” over tyranny and "big money” as he cited former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to assert that the city has stepped out from the “old into the new.” PTI ZH ZH ZH