Zohran Mamdani walked onto the stage at the Brooklyn Paramount theater to the rapturous applause of hundreds of his most dedicated canvassers, political allies and dozens of journalists. Phones went up, and cameras switched on, almost in unison as the new mayor-elect of New York City smiled, waved and put his hand over his heart to express gratitude.
The high rococo-style ceiling of the theater was lit in the shade of blue that had become synonymous with Mamdani’s campaign over the past year. On the screen behind him, a giant screen read “Zohran For New York City,” in the signature golden yellow font that had adorned thousands of t-shirts, bags and posters across the five boroughs.
In a speech that lasted a little over twenty minutes, Mamdani underscored that he, like millions of New Yorkers who call this city home, hailed from countries beyond the United States.
“Thank you to those so often forgotten by the politics of our city — who made this movement their own,” he said to the rapt audience. “I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers, and Uzbek nurses, Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties… this city is your city, and this democracy is yours too.”
Many of those diaspora immigrant communities turned out in huge numbers for Mamdani, taking the overall tally of votes cast from 1.1 million in 2021 to over 2 million this year. The last NYC mayoral election to see such a turnout was over half a century ago, in 1969.
Mamdani declared from his podium: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built for immigrants, powered by immigrants. And as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
New Yorkers who have witnessed ICE raids against immigrant street vendors along Canal Street, seen masked federal agents arrest those who had come to immigration court as was legally required of them, and watched Mamdani himself face threats of denaturalization and deportation from the president of the United States, cheered on their next mayor as he made immigrants and immigration a cornerstone of his victory speech.
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.
Asad Dandia, a New York City historian and tour guide, stood in the crowd. The sight of Mamdani on stage made Dandia, a child of Pakistani immigrants who once sued the NYPD over its surveillance of him and the city’s Muslim communities, reflect on the significance of having an immigrant mayor in City Hall — from a personal lens.
“I’m just grateful to see that we have someone that looks like us,” he said. “I look at Zohran, he looks like someone that could be my cousin, right?”
On New Year’s Day 2026, Mamdani will be sworn in as the city’s first South Asian and Muslim mayor. Early in his speech, when he broke into Arabic, the crowd broke into cheers.“We will fight for you because we are you,” Mamdani said. “Or as we say on Steinway, ana minkum wa ilaykum.”
Mamdani also said that his City Hall would also be built in a way that the 1 million Muslims living in New York City “know that they belong.” He added, “Not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.”
This election cycle saw Mamdani’s faith being weaponized against him. Shortly before the election, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared on radio host Sid Rosenberg’s show, where the two of them laughed along at the idea that he would cheer on another 9/11 in New York. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa claimed, without any substantiation, that Mamdani supported “global jihad.” Commentators labelled him antisemitic for voicing his concerns for the plight of Palestinians.
In response, Mamdani chose to put his Muslim identity front and center. A video statement about not remaining in the shadows as Muslims, that was posted a day after Andrew Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks — and four days before polls closed — went viral on social media. A campaign video of him speaking in Arabic and seeking the support of New Yorkers who spoke the language also spread widely.
“We grew up in a very Islamophobic era, post 9/11,” Meyhad Mozaffar, an art appraiser from Brooklyn and a first-generation immigrant whose parents moved here from Pakistan, said outside the venue. “To see somebody of my age, my skin color and my religious background become mayor… seeing this win gives us hope.”
Mamdani also addressed his position on immigration enforcement and the specter of the Trump administration descending on New York City like it has on Chicago and Los Angeles.
“We believe in standing up for those we love. Whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many black women that Donald Trump has fired from the federal government… or anyone else with their back against the wall — your struggle is ours too,” Mamdani said. “So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching… I have four words for you. Turn the volume up.”
Those gathered responded with one of their loudest cheers of the night. Among them was Kylie Madhav, a Black transwoman of multiracial ancestry.
“This is precisely the kind of direct, unapologetic and unequivocal rebuke of the far right’s hateful political project from a politician of conscience that I’ve been wanting to see for years,” Madhav said. “I love that Zohran said it directly to Trump in the most public of forums.”
At the end of his victory speech, Mamdani stood and waved, as his Syrian-American wife, illustrator Rama Duwaji joined him. His Indian-American mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, followed in a blue sari, hands folded in a ‘Namaste,’ and hugged her son. His Ugandan-American father, academic and author on decolonialism, Mahmood Mamdani walked in last.
The four of them stood on stage — each of a different descent, each a New Yorker. Together, a family.
Ammar Abdul Rahman, an imam and a volunteer with Africans for Zohran, told Documented, “Zohran has shown us that this is what New Yorkers look like.”
As Mamdani walked off the stage after his speech, the nod to his South Asian heritage struck a musical chord — the Bollywood hit song ‘Dhoom machale’ blared through the speakers. The title of the song roughly translates to ‘Rock the party.’
