Who is Zohran Mamdani New York City’s new Mayor? Everything you need to know
New York City – With the official results now in, Zohran Kwame Mamdani has been declared the new mayor of New York City, marking a historic milestone for the city and a dramatic turn in its political landscape.
Early life and background
Mamdani was born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda.His parents are academician Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. The family moved to South Africa for a period before settling in New York when Mamdani was about seven years old. He completed high school at The Bronx High School of Science and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies from Bowdoin College. Before entering elected office, Mamdani worked as a housing-counselor helping low-income homeowners in Queens fight foreclosure and eviction.
Political career
Mamdani entered electoral politics in 2020, when he ran for and won the seat representing the 36th District in the New York State Assembly (covering Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway and Astoria Heights in Queens). He took office on January 1, 2021. In the Assembly, his focus has been on housing affordability, tenants’ rights, public transit and other progressive issues.
In 2025, he challenged for the mayoralty of New York City. He emerged victorious in the Democratic primary, defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo. With the general election now concluded and results confirmed, he becomes the first person of South Asian origin and the first Muslim mayor of New York City.
Platform and priorities
During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to address the high cost of living in the city. Key policy promises included:
• Free bus transit (eliminating fares) and transit relief.
• Major expansion of affordable housing and rent-freeze or strong rent protections for stabilized units.
• Tax increases on very high earners and large corporations to fund expanded public services such as free childcare.
• A focus on public safety reform and building services rather than purely relying on policing.
What this really means is the city is now poised for an agenda that strongly emphasises economic justice, transit accessibility and housing reform.
Controversies and challenges
Mamdani’s meteoric rise has not been without scrutiny. Some of the key issues include:
• Critics pointed to his relatively short professional experience and questioned whether he has sufficient governance experience to manage a city the size of New York.
• He has faced allegations from Hindu-American organisations that he made “Hinduphobic” remarks. These groups say his past statements and temple visits raise questions about his inclusivity.
• During a Diwali outreach event, Mamdani took a public dig at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was raised with a vision of pluralistic India and earlier referenced Modi as a “war criminal”.
• His national-scale clash with former President Donald Trump featured prominently in the race; Mamdani cast himself as a progressive immigrant leader prepared to counter Trump’s style and policies.
These controversies signal that his mayoralty will face both intense support and intense opposition.
Mamdani's victory is historic for several reasons: his immigrant background, his South Asian heritage, his identification with the democratic-socialist wing of the Democratic Party, and the scale of his policy ambitions. What this really means is the city will see bold campaigns on housing and transit, and national attention on how a progressive mayor navigates the complex machinery of New York City government and the interplay with state and federal authorities.
At the same time, his agenda will encounter institutional resistance from business interests, from state government, and from those who doubt his experience. Whether he can turn promises into delivery will define his tenure.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
