Mamdani makes history with improbable, meteoric rise to become New York's next mayor, ABC News projects
Zohran Mamdani has made New York City history with his ascendant election victory Tuesday night, ABC News projects.
"The future us in our hands," he said in a passionate victory speech.
New Yorkers chose Mamdani to become the city's 111th mayor, and with that title Mamdani will represent several firsts in the city's three-and-a-half-century existence.
When Mamdani is sworn in on Jan. 1, he will become the city's first Muslim and first New Yorker of South Asian descent to be mayor -- as well as the city's first African-born mayor.
Just 34, Mamdani will also be the second youngest mayor in the city's history. (Mayor John Purroy Mitchel was also 34 when he assumed office in 1914, while Mayor Hugh J. Grant was 30 when he was inaugurated in 1889.)
Mamdani will be the first immigrant mayor since Mayor Abe Beame, who was born in the U.K., assumed office in 1974. (Six New York mayors were born outside the U.S., prior to Mamdani.)
Now a high-profile target of President Donald Trump -- who's branded the democratic socialist as a "communist" and vowed political retribution -- the mayor-elect touted his out-of-the-mainstream political philosophy from the beginning of his campaign, when he was a little known two-term state assemblyman representing Astoria, Queens.
Stressing his youth, he talked about his immigrant experience as he canvassed the city's diverse neighborhoods, especially outside of Manhattan, and sought to address their needs.
Although he ranked near the bottom of polls in the beginning of the year -- trailing Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by double digits -- Mamdani pushed on, focusing on "affordability" and making concrete proposals.
Mamdani has pushed plans to freeze rent for rent-stabilized apartments and to provide universal child care and free buses. He has called for a 2% tax hike on New York City residents earning more than $1 million a year to pay for these services.
The mayor-elect's proposals stem from his democratic socialist beliefs, which have come under fire from not only Republicans but also from some centrist Democrats such as Cuomo, who contended his proposals were unachievable.
Mamdani is the second city mayor to have been a democratic socialist member since David Dinkins assumed office in 1990.
The mayor-elect has also come under fire for his pro-Palestinian views and comments that some, including Cuomo, argued were antisemitic.
Mamdani has vowed to work for the city's Jewish population and argued that his main piece of criticism was with the Israeli government's actions since the conflict began.
But as the city's history books are rewritten with Tuesday's election results, Mamdani also is set to break a lesser-known historical mayoral record.
New York City has not had a mayor with a beard since 1913, when William Jay Gaynor sported one. It hasn't had a mayor with facial hair since Dinkins.
