The front-runner faces attacks on his faith and background, even as New Yorkers are home to historic numbers of Muslims and South Asians.
New York mayoral candidates face off in final debate
Andrew Cuomo, Zoran Mamdani and Curtis Sliwa clashed over President Trump, housing, crime and sexual harassment allegations.
NEW YORK – Zoran Mamdani, the leading candidate for New York mayor, stood in front of the Islamic Cultural Center, a brick mosque in the Bronx, on October 24 and recalled a time when Muslim New Yorkers were told to practice their faith behind closed doors.
When Mamdani ran for parliament six years ago, his “uncle” gently told him he didn’t need to say he was Muslim. Those days are gone, the Democratic candidate for New York mayor declared.
“I’m no longer going to look for myself in the shadows,” Mamdani said on a cool, sunny afternoon, surrounded by men and women planning to attend Friday’s mass prayer (juma). “I will find myself in the light.”
If elected on November 4, Mamdani, 34, will become the first Muslim and South Asian mayor of the country’s largest city. He redistricted New York City’s districts with Muslim and South Asian voters as part of a diverse coalition expected to carry him to victory within two weeks.
And while his opponents have sought to draw on Islamophobic tropes late in the campaign to narrow his large lead in the polls, Muslim New Yorkers told USA TODAY that his candidacy marks a historic point for a community often far removed from the city’s places of power.
Whoever replaces current Mayor Eric Adams, he will represent the largest Muslim community in the United States.
“The excitement of uncles and aunts”
Wasei Touray, 60, who works at a pizza shop, said politicians have visited mosques in the Bronx before. Usually because of a tragedy, such as the 2022 fire in a nearby apartment building that killed many African immigrants. But his mostly African congregation had never prayed with a Muslim politician like Mamdani.
“He will try to open the door to other Muslims,” Touray said.
Mamdani turned out historic numbers of Muslims, South Asians, and Indo-Caribbean New Yorkers who were not registered in traditional polls. A surge in engagement and participation, seen not only in viral moments on social media but also in a multilingual campaign with relentless recruiting efforts, led to a surprising come-from-behind victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary.
“This is already happening,” said Brooklyn City Council member Shahana Hanif, an ally of Mamdani. “Our political power is growing.”
Hanif, the first Muslim woman and Bangladeshi American to serve on the City Council, represents a district that includes her hometown of Kensington, home of New York’s Little Bangladesh. The region, which is home to South Asian Muslim communities, saw the largest increase in turnout in the 2025 primary compared to 2021. Hanif blamed it on “the excitement of my uncles and aunts.”
Jagpreet Singh, political director of DRUM Beats, a group that brings together New Yorkers from South Asia and the Indo-Caribbean, said Mamdani’s campaign began exactly a year ago, shortly after he announced his candidacy. Singh previously worked with Mamdani on tenant organizing at the nonprofit Chaya Community Development Corporation in Queens, where Mamdani was a foreclosure prevention counselor.
Singh said politicians across the city previously engaged South Asian and Muslim voters in celebrations of Hindu Diwali and Muslim Eid, usually speaking to a few prominent gatekeepers such as religious leaders and business executives.
Mamdani started early with temples, mosques and weekly street and cultural events, Singh said. By the time other candidates emerged, leaders had to accommodate local residents who already supported Mamdani.
But Mamdani didn’t just focus on her identity as a Ugandan-American with an Indian-Muslim father and a Hindu mother. Mamdani’s father, Mahmoud Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, is from Uganda. His mother is Mira Nair, a film director, who is from India. Mamdani was born in Uganda and grew up in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, near the Ivy League university where his father taught.
Mamdani’s Instagram account recently posted a video of the campaign launch on October 23, 2024. Billboards then displayed his signature three-part platform: rent freezes, free buses, and universal child care. Singh said these policies not only resonated with Mamdani’s educated and progressive demographic, but also with immigrant New Yorkers who struggle to pay the bills in a notoriously expensive city.
“He’s an inspiration to them, and he’s proving that you can still take bold, progressive positions and get support,” said Wael Al-Zayat, CEO of Emgage Action, a national Muslim-American advocacy group. “You have to be brave.”
Islamophobia remains widespread
Mamdani has remained critical of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, which was once considered taboo, especially in New York City, where about 1 million Jews live. But his views were in line with many voters, including many Jewish New Yorkers, following Israel’s devastating two-year siege of Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
Of New York City’s 8.5 million residents, nearly 1 in 10 is Muslim. More than 380,000 New Yorkers are South Asian, and even more are Indo-Caribbean. Many of these communities were heavily monitored and profiled after the 2001 terrorist attacks nearly a quarter of a century ago.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an independent candidate, has emphasized Mamdani’s faith, citing sectarian differences within Islam, and appears to agree with the radio host that Mamdani once again supports the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Republican Curtis Sliwa, who came in third, falsely claimed that Mamdani supports “global jihad.” Those on the right have focused on the way Mamdani eats rice with his fingers, a traditional way of eating it in India, where his family is from.
On October 23, the embattled Mayor Adams abandoned his long-anticipated re-election bid and endorsed Mr. Cuomo, warning that Mr. Mamdani’s election would bring about “Islamic extremism.”
Amani Jamal, dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, said Mamdani’s political rise has broken the boundaries of other Muslims in many ways. But he is just one man, and his victory will not fundamentally end Islamophobia in the country, let alone in the city.
“Anti-Muslim hatred can still dominate many parts of official political discourse in this country,” she said.
The birth of the first Muslim mayor is historic, but “this is New York City”
In the Bronx, Amadou Barry, a 28-year-old pharmacy technician, waited to reunite with Mamdani after prayers. Barry, a registered independent, was unable to vote in the Democratic primary, but planned to vote for Mamdani in the general election. Barry evaluated the possibility of having the first Muslim mayor, but his biggest concern was affordability.
“Everyone wants someone they can relate to,” he said, but added, “This is New York City. There’s so much diversity. That’s not the only reason.”
While Mamdani remained inside the mosque, campaign workers took to the sunny Bronx streets to register to vote.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Contact us via email (emcuevas1@usatoday.com) or Signal (emcuevas.01).
