Fast-forward one year, and the Mamdani electricity is still there—it just might be a little bit more tired. The daily grind of governing, after all, doesn’t offer quite the same excitement as a rocket-ship campaign. Not to mention that Mamdani, particularly given his massive reach online, has now become a lightning rod for polarizing conversations, from Israel to the Democratic Socialists of America, as well as a beacon of political hope for millions across the country and even around the world.
Mamdani’s approval rating among Big Apple voters sits at a stunning 69 percent, and he’s become among the most influential figures on the American left; he’s also been described, by his harshest critics, as a dangerous radical whose politics threaten the very city he’s been elected to lead. No pressure.
During a sit-down interview at New York’s City Hall, the mayor and I spoke about what he’s learned during his 10 months on the job, how he uses social media as a tool for governance, and where he stands on some of the most pressing issues facing Americans in today’s midterm elections. Mamdani might be tired—he divulged, hoarsely, that it had been “a long day”—but the internet’s Mayor also seems newly liberated, and certainly empowered to speak his mind. Winning power and wielding it, after all, are two very different things. And right now, the power is squarely in Zohran Mamdani’s corner.
Photograph: Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet
KATIE DRUMMOND: It was almost exactly this time last year that I interviewed you in your campaign office. I remember that for two reasons. One, it was just before the election, but two, you were just about to have a birthday. I was remembering that this weekend, because I was in Sunset Park on Saturday. Sunset Park, for those who don’t know, is the best park in Brooklyn, and actually all of New York. I’m sure you agree.
While I was there, I saw you being serenaded with “Happy Birthday.” I did not join. I kept walking. I was like, “I’m gonna see this guy.”
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I was wondering, like, “Who’s that woman who’s not singing along?”