On Nov. 4, 2025, NYC held a mayoral election with candidates Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and Independent Andrew Cuomo. 

The tension across all five boroughs ended at midnight when Democratic-socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected as the new mayor with, according to ABC News, 181,056 votes ahead of runner-up and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

Mamdani’s victory marked him as the first South Asian, African-born mayor-elect in NYC history.

His victory also marked him as the youngest mayor-elect and the second democratic socialist to be elected in NYC.

His win was celebrated and detested by many politicians in America. NYS Attorney General Letitia James, Governor Kathy

Hochul, and Senator Bernie Sanders were among some of Mamdani’s top supporters.

Conversely, President Trump, former Governor Cuomo and incumbent mayor Eric Adams were among some of his biggest critics during Mamdani’s campaign.

The source of Mamdani’s greatest praise as well as criticism stemmed from his political ideas and plans that he wishes to enact when he takes office on Jan. 1, 2026.

Mamdani has faced criticism for his opinions, particularly on the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

Mamdani has been criticized for claiming to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York. 

According to The NY Times and Fox News, several organizations and Jewish leaders have expressed worries that Mamdani’s win would increase tensions between the two groups. 

However, in an MSNBC interview, Mamdani stated, “I think critiques of the state of Israel are critiques of a government, as opposed to critiques of a people and of a faith. And my job is to represent every single New Yorker, and I will do so no matter their thoughts and opinions on Israel and Palestine, of which millions of New Yorkers have very strong views — and I’m one of them.” 

Similarly, Mamdani has faced criticism for labeling himself as a democratic socialist. 

This label stems from his plans to create free buses, free universal childcare, create a system of government-owned grocery stores, and raise the minimum wage cap.

Some public figures such as Trump, Cuomo and Adams, have criticized the term, Trump saying, “He’s [Mamdani] a communist. We’re going to go to a communistic [sic] city. That’s so bad for New York.”

Consequently, according to NPR, Trump and Mamdani met on November 21st where they appeared to be civil and cordial. Trump stated, “I met with a man who’s a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see — really wants to see — New York be great again.” in regards to the Oval Office meeting. Similarly, Mamdani said, “I enjoyed our conversation and I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”

However, Mamdani has continuously stated that he is a socialist, who believes that a government should own the means of production through democratic methods, whilst still maintaining private property to a certain extent. 

Whereas, a communist believes that states should control all property and that no social hierarchies should exist.

Communism’s negative connotation makes this label worse, as it associates Mamdani with many controversial figures and implies that Mamdani has extremist views.

Whether or not Mamdani can achieve these policies is up for debate, but there’s no doubt that his ideas are different and unique compared to previous mayors. 

All illustrations drawn by Simran Sehgal