Profile
Zohran Mamdani (born 1991)
From Queens assemblyman to mayor of New York City
Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani is the son of film director Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani. His family moved to New York when he was seven. Before politics he worked as a housing counsellor, helping families facing eviction.
Elected to the New York State Assembly for Queens in 2020, he ran for mayor as a democratic socialist on promises to make the city more affordable: a rent freeze, free buses and city-run grocery shops. His grassroots campaign beat far better-known rivals, and in 2026 he took office as the city's 112th mayor, making him New York's first Muslim mayor and one of its youngest in more than a century.
Did you know?At the Bronx High School of Science he helped start the school's first cricket team.
