Newsman: Zohran Mamdani has made New York City history with his ascendant election victory Tuesday night. “The future us in our hands,” Mamdani said in a passionate victory speech. New York City mayoral race skyrocketed to national attention as one of the most significant elections in the country came to a stunning conclusion; 34-year-old democratic socialist Mamdani is elected to be the next mayor of New York City.. New Yorkers chose Mamdani to become the city’s 111th mayor, and with that title Mamdani will represent several firsts in the city’s three-and-a-half-century existence. When Mamdani is sworn in on Jan. 1, he will become the city’s first Muslim and first New Yorker of South Asian descent to be mayor — as well as the city’s first African-born mayor. Mamdani defeated heavyweight opponent former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and republican cadiadte Curtis Sliwa. Both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa conceded on Tuesday night.
“The future is in our hands, my friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said to a roaring crowd in Brooklyn. Mamdani vowed his administration, which begins Jan. 1 will hold landlords accountable because “the Donald Trumps in our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of our tenants.”
Addressing President Donald Trump by name in his victory speech Tuesday night, Mamdani said, “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching — I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants — and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani said.
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. When we enter City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high. We will meet them,” he added.
President Trump has called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and, before the election Tuesday, threatened to withhold federal funding to New York City if Mamdani were to win.
Speaking to his supporters on Tuesday night, Mamdani said, “New York tonight, you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford and the mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”
“Hope is alive,” Mamdani continued.
“Hope over tyranny; hope over big money and small ideas; hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible,” he added.
Polls closed at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday in the election that amassed a historic voter turnout for the city, with over 2 million residents casting their vote. Five times as many people voted early in 2025 compared to the 2021 mayoral race, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
Andrew Cuomo commended New Yorkers for showing up to vote in a municipal election in record numbers and drew a comparison between himself and his father, Mario Cuomo, which he has done often throughout his campaign.
“Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani,” Cuomo said, before being interrupted by loud booing from the audience. “No, no, that is not right,” Cuomo interrupted his supporters.
“That is not right, and that is not us. Tonight is their night, and as they start to transition, we will all help in any way we can, because we need our New York City government to work. We want it to work for all New Yorkers,” Cuomo said.
Curtis Sliwa also offered an emotional concession speech to supporters Tuesday night, stressing that the movement that he built on creating a safer New York will not be erased.
He also said his candidacy was proof that voters cannot be bought or bullied by the establishment, as he was pressured to drop out of the race to clear the field for independent Andrew Cuomo.
Sliwa offered Mamdani, whom he referred to as “mayor-elect,” good luck, while issuing a warning that if Mamdani implements socialist policies, Sliwa and his coalition will become the Mamdani administration’s “worst nightmare.”
With a focus on affordability, Mamdani has pushed plans to freeze the rent for rent-stabilized apartments and provide universal childcare and free buses. He has called for a 2% tax hike on New York City residents earning more than $1 million a year to pay for these services.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani, 34, said. “And if there is any way to defeat a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”
He added: “This is not only how we stop Trump ‒ it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
“We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protections because we know – just as Donald Trump does – that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed,” he said.
Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
“So, hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Mamdani kicked off his victory speech quoting Eugene Debs, the founder of the Socialist Party a century ago. He then touted toppling a “political dynasty” with the defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who finished second behind Mamdani.
“You have delivered a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” Mamdani said.
Talking to ABC’s “Good Morning America” New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani told on Wednesday that he would not be “intimidated” by potential threats from President Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard to the city.
“His threats are inevitable,” Mamdani said. “This has nothing to do a safety, it has to do with intimidation.”
“If it was safety, President Trump would be threatening to deploy the National Guard to the top 10 states of crime, eight out of which are all Republican-led,” Mamdani added. “But because of that party he won’t actually be doing it.”
Mamdani also said he saw his election victory as a “mandate” to pursue the “most ambitious” affordability agenda for New Yorkers in decades.
He described the first steps toward funding that agenda as pushing to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers — along with raising corporate taxes to 11.5% from its current level at about 7.25%.
“These things together raise about $9 billion,” he said, “which more than pays for the economic agenda and also starts to Trump-proof our city.”
Mamdani’s proposal for city-funded universal child care is among the policies he said he planned to fund with new tax revenues.
