There’s no denying it: the mayoral election in New York City has drawn eyes from all over. An estimated 10,000 supporters of the now newly-elected NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani flooded the seats of Forest Hills Stadium for the biggest rally of his campaign on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025.
“New York is Not For Sale” was the headline of Zohran Mamdani’s Forest Hills rally. It is a message that lines up with his position as a democratic socialist, and, more concisely, a message to those that contribute to his opposition.
Mamdani has built a platform out of affordability and communication. His promises include rent freezes, free childcare, and free –and fast– buses.
According to him, the campaign is structured to have the people in mind, addressing New York City’s biggest problems, primarily on the cost of living, and offering tangible solutions to them.
However, his critics claim that his fixes are flawed.
Many say that the money to carry out his big ideas simply isn’t there. His platform suggests that the additional funds necessary to pay for his agenda would come from raising income taxes on only the richest New Yorkers.
Critics say this tax raise will lead to millionaire migration, and because of that, these plans will fall through.
“You elect a socialist who tries to give everything away [for] free, doubles the taxes on the wealthy, and the wealthy say, ‘That’s it. I’m gone,’” says former governor and independent runner-up, Andrew Cuomo.
Mamdani’s supporters claim that these warnings are simply speculative, as they argue that several studies in the past show that millionaire migration due to tax increases isn’t as common as one might think.
Despite the worries that his ideas might fall short, Mamdani’s promises are still popular with New Yorkers, including the younger generations. His campaign garnered over 50,000 volunteers, and upon winning the election, he did so with 1,036,051 votes, with a near 9-point lead above his opponents.
The stands were filled with supporters. Hosted by actress and comedian Sarah Squirm, a variety of community representatives throughout NYC came to speak and endorse Mamdani.
This includes NYC Comptroller Brad Lander who –after walking up on stage to Randy Newman’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’– very quickly announced to Andrew Cuomo, ”I said it on election night, and I can’t wait to say it on [election day], good [expletive] riddance.”
When Lander and Mamdani formed a cross-endorsement in the democratic primaries, it was specifically to prevent Cuomo from being ranked as the democratic nominee.
This cross-endorsement held strong, as even now Brad Lander is in support. “How many of you, like me, are Jews for Zohran?” he asked the crowd.
Lander spoke to Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers, emphasizing that the two communities should be unified. “Jews and Muslims will not be divided against each other,” he said.
He criticized Andrew Cuomo and the donors that back him, arguing that they’ve exploited Islamophobia and antisemitism in order to try and gain political leverage over Mamdani.
Lander also made a demand to end the continuous conflict in Gaza. “Israelis will not be free and safe until Palestinians are free and safe,” he said.
He wrapped up his speech by endorsing Mamdani once more. “Let’s elect mayor Zohran Mamdani [and] let’s build the New York of our dreams.”
Another highlighted speaker was NYS Governor Kathy Hochul.
Hochul addressed the current presidential administration as a threat to the city and country as a whole. “They’re taking a wrecking ball to our very values, our people, and our progress.”
Hochul mentioned President Donald Trump’s budget cuts to food assistance, healthcare, and infrastructure, as well as the deployment of ICE agents throughout New York City.
She endorsed Mamdani as someone who will push back against Donald Trump, saying, “We need a person in City Hall who wakes up every day ready to punch and fight for the [working people] of the city… and that person is Zohran Mamdani.”
Although her endorsement was clear, Hochul does not support all of Mamdani’s plans for the city.
Earlier this year, when asked whether or not she’d support Mamdani’s plans to increase taxes on the one percent, she simply said “no.”
“I’m not raising taxes at a time where affordability is the big issue,” She told PIX 11 News. “I don’t want to lose any more people to
Palm Beach.”
Supporters of Mamdani’s plans made themselves clear in the Queens crowd, as over Hochul’s voice, chants of ‘tax the rich!” echoed throughout the stands.
Hochul reported the following day that she had assumed the crowd was chanting, “Let’s go, Bills,” in support of the NFL’s NY Buffalo Bills team.
The three key speakers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Mamdani himself all shared a unified sentiment, the same one that headlined this very rally: ‘New York is Not For Sale.’
“Our future is not determined by despot in a house built by enslaved people. Our future will be determined, not in a house built by slaves, but in a city built by free men,” said AOC during her speech.
“Ordinary Americans get one vote, you get one vote. Meanwhile, billionaires get the opportunity to spend as much as they want to elect the candidates they want,” said Bernie Sanders during his own.
Lastly, Zohran Mamdani himself stood at the podium.
“[The wealthy] will do everything they can to prevent their grip from weakening. The truth is as simple as it is non-negotiable; we are all allowed freedom,” he said. “We all get to be free.”
