Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Kwame Mamdani (born October 18, 1991) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. He has been the 112th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2026, and is the city's first Muslim mayor and its first Asian American mayor. From 2021 to 2025 he represented the 36th district, in Queens, in the New York State Assembly.

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to parents of Indian descent: the postcolonial scholar Mahmood Mamdani and the filmmaker Mira Nair. At five his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, and at seven to New York City. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 2010 and earned a bachelor's degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin College in 2014. After college he worked as a housing counselor and also performed as a rapper.

In 2020 he defeated five-term incumbent Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary and won a seat in the State Assembly, representing Astoria and Long Island City. He was reelected without opposition in 2022 and 2024.

In October 2024 Mamdani launched a campaign for mayor focused on affordability. His platform included fare-free city buses, universal child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments, more affordable housing, a $30 minimum wage by 2030, and higher taxes on corporations and on people earning over $1 million a year. In June 2025 he upset former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, and in the November general election he defeated Cuomo, running as an independent, and the Republican candidate to become mayor.

In January 2026, Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced an expansion of free child care. In June the Rent Guidelines Board approved a rent freeze for rent-stabilized apartments, and his administration named the site of the first city-owned grocery store. His tenure has also seen clashes with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement and criticism from some Jewish organizations and elected officials over his positions on Israel.