Queens lawmaker elected mayor
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Queens Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani was elected New york City mayor on Tuesday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Jacob Kaye
Zohran Mamdani’s unprecedented rise from Western Queens assemblymember to national political figure reached a new peak Tuesday night, when he was elected mayor of New York City in an election that drew a historic number of voters.
Mamdani, who has represented Astoria in the state legislature since 2021, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo for the second time in five months, pulling in just over 50 percent of the vote with 96 percent of ballots counted on Tuesday night.
Mamdani’s victory marks a historic moment: Mamdani will be the first democratic socialist, the first Muslim and the first South Asian man to lead New York City. At 34 years old, Mamdani will be the second-youngest mayor in the city’s history and the youngest seen in over a century.
The Astoria resident will also be the first mayor since the city’s consolidation in 1898 to have represented Queens prior to their election to Gracie Mansion.
The mayor-elect’s victory came quickly on Tuesday night when the Associated Press called the race for the Queens official shortly after 9:30 p.m., half an hour after the polls closed. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who picked up a little more than seven percent of the vote citywide, conceded about 20 minutes after the polls closed. Cuomo conceded around an hour later.
“Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” Mamdani told a crowd of his supporters gathered at Brooklyn Paramount in Downtown Brooklyn. “The future is in our hands.”
Among those there were Mamdani’s elected allies from Queens, who erupted when Mamdani was declared the race’s victor.
“I’m elated,” State Senator John Liu, one of Mamdani’s early endorsers, told the Eagle. “We now have a mayor who has integrity, who has intellect, who is inspirational.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who won reelection to Borough Hall on Tuesday, was also on hand for Mamdani’s victory party. As were Democratic Socialists of America-backed lawmakers Tiffany Cabán, whose district in the City Council overlaps with Mamdani’s Assembly district, and Claire Valdez, who was elected to the State Assembly last year.
Not long after his victory, Mamdani turned his eyes to the transition, which he’ll have less than two months to get in place.
Come January, Mamdani will inherit what’s often considered one of the most difficult offices in elected life, behind only the presidency. The job will bring with it a $116 billion city budget, over 300,000 municipal workers and the attention of a president who has threatened to withhold federal funds from a New York City run by the democratic socialist.
Mamdani said he was prepared to take the challenge head-on.
“Expectations will be high,” he said. “We will meet them.”
“This new age will be of relentless improvement,” he added.
The mayor-elect also took direct aim at President Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump, since I know you are watching, I have four words for you,” he said. “Turn the volume up.”
Mamdani got to work quickly on the transition, announcing in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Wednesday morning the officials who will lead his transition team.
Elana Leopold, a senior campaign advisor who held several roles in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, will serve as the transition’s executive director. The transition team’s co-chairs include; Maria Torres-Springer, a City Hall veteran who most recently served as first deputy mayor under Mayor Eric Adams; Lina Khan, the former Federal Trade Commission chair under President Joe Biden; Melanie Hartzog, the president and CEO of the New York Foundling who also served in City Hall under two separate mayoral administrations; and Grace Bonilla, the president and CEO of United Way of New York City who previously served as administrator of the New York City Human Resources Administration.
“The hard work of improving New Yorkers lives starts now,” Mamdani said from Queens on Wednesday. “I and my team will build a City Hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign. We will form an administration that is equal parts capable and compassionate, driven by integrity and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home.”
Cuomo toppled again
It’s unclear what Mamdani’s victory means for Cuomo, whose two attempts at a political comeback after resigning from the governor’s office in disgrace have failed.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said on Tuesday. “I wish Andrew Cuomo the best in private life but let tonight be the last time I utter his name.”
Cuomo conceded around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, though he did not call Mamdani to do so formally, the mayor-elect said. In a speech to supporters, the Queens-born Cuomo continued to criticize Mamdani claiming that the mayor-elect’s agenda includes “promises that we know cannot be met.”
During the speech, Cuomo’s supporters began booing at the first mention of Mamdani’s name. The former governor who consistently lobbed attacks at Mamdani during the campaign attempted to tamp down the reaction.
“Tonight was their night and as they start to transition their government, we will all help any way we can,” Cuomo said.
Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race about a month before election day and endorsed Cuomo in the final days of the race, congratulated Mamdani in a video posted to social media.
The mayor, who still picked up over 6,300 votes on Tuesday, called the office “one of the most difficult jobs but it is truly one of the greatest jobs on the globe.”
Mamdani defeated Cuomo in every borough but Staten Island.
However, Mamdani’s victory in Queens was by far the slimmest compared to the other three boroughs he won.
The Queens lawmaker defeated Cuomo by five points in the borough, winning 11 of Queens’ 18 Assembly districts. Mamdani ran up the points in Astoria’s Assembly District 36, which he represents, and in neighboring Assembly District 37, which includes parts of Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and Ridgewood.
Cuomo performed best in Eastern and Central Queens, defeating Mamdani big in areas like Kew Gardens Hills and Hillcrest.
But Mamdani also performed well in areas some expected him to falter in, like in the majority Black neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans, Arverne and Edgemere.
The race between Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa garnered unprecedented interest from New Yorkers, who showed up to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday and in the 10-day early voting period that preceded election day.
Over 2 million voters cast ballots in the race, the most of any mayoral race in the 21st century.
Nearly 504,000 people cast a ballot in Queens, placing the borough third in the number of raw votes cast. Around 658,000 people voted in Brooklyn, the leading borough. Another 521,767 voted in Manhattan, 223,042 voted in the Bronx and 148,924 voted in Staten Island.
Additional reporting by Ryan Schwach
