Many Muslim New Yorkers are celebrating the historic win of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who will be the first Muslim mayor of the city.

Worshippers at a mosque on Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens prayed for the future mayor.

“I wish him luck. Everybody pray for him, everybody pray for the city becoming the better city,” said Hesham Tomoum, as he was leaving noon prayers Wednesday. “Everybody need nice house, good work, you know, live together like one community, and love New York, and pray for New York.”

What You Need To Know

Many Muslim New Yorkers are celebrating the historic win of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, including in Greenwich Village at the Islamic Center of New York City, run by Imam Khalid Latif, a leading imam in the city

Imam Latif believes the next mayor will not only deliver for Muslims, but New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds

Some Muslims said they feel like they’re finally being represented, and are no longer outsiders

While many in the Muslim community are happy to see the city elect its first Muslim and South Asian mayor, some Muslim New Yorkers who voted for him are worried about Mayor-elect Mamdani’s ability to deliver on his campaign promises, like making New York affordable for working-class New Yorkers

Tomoum said he’s been living in the neighborhood for about four decades.

“I’m just excited and I’m happy that the first mayor is Muslim, and he’s an immigrant,” said Walid Ali, another Mamdani supporter, who has been living in New York City for around 13 years. He’s originally from Egypt.

Some Muslims said they feel like they’re finally being represented, and are no longer outsiders.

“This is amazing. This is big change for the future,” said Djalel Ahnane, who was with his young son. “It’s meaning a lot of things about, not just Muslim community, but for all the communities, there is a change. People, they have [been] looking for change for long time, and now they see the change.”

Ahnane is originally from Algeria but has been living in the city for around 14 years.

While many in the Muslim community are happy to see the city elect its first Muslim and South Asian mayor, some Muslim New Yorkers who voted for him are worried about Mamdani’s ability to deliver on his campaign promises, like making New York affordable for working-class New Yorkers.

“I don’t think so it’s gonna be OK now,” said Mamdouh Abdelghani, a Mamdani supporter who was a little more skeptical about the future. “In the beginning, he [Mamdani] gonna say ‘yes OK,’ but later we gotta see.”

Accountability matters to Ali too.

“He does the promises, this is the most important thing, it’s not only because he’s the first Muslim or blah blah blah, we just want him to do what he promised about freezing the rents,” Ali said.

Among Mamdani’s supporters, Imam Khalid Latif, director of the Islamic Center of New York City in Greenwich Village. Imam Latif has known Mamdani for around six years and was canvassing for him. He says he was praying for this day to come.

“He is definitely the mayor that New York City needs, especially for us as Muslims. He left no stone unturned on the idea that we belong, and his election is something that is a [testament] to that,” Latif said.

“For so long, a political apparatus has used Islamophobia as a strategy to invoke fear and to advance privileged people to retain power, and Zohran being chosen as the mayor of New York City, it just upends so many stereotypes that people have of what Muslims can potentially achieve,” Latif added.

Latif believes Mamdani will deliver not just for Muslims but for New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds, saying he’ll bridge the gap between those who support him unwaveringly and those who have doubts about his ability to lead the city and change the lives of New Yorkers.

“His victory is really not just for him, it’s for all of us. The mood, the environment was just spectacular,” Latif said. “It wasn’t just a hope that felt fleeting, but even today walking through the streets of New York City, it just felt very different. I think people are energized in a different way.”

Meanwhile, Hamza Rhioui, another worshipper at the Astoria mosque, believes Mamdani’s win makes the Muslim community feel more confident, and he believes the future mayor will be a unifying force in his leadership role.

“We hope all the best for him. We hope that he is gonna deliver on the promise that he made to all New Yorkers,” Rhioui said. “This is not only a Muslim mayor, it’s everybody’s mayor, it’s New York’s mayor.”

Imam Latif says he prayed for Mamdani’s safety and is now turning his prayers to Mamdani’s transition team, so he can come through on his promises to be a leader for all New Yorkers, both those who agree with him and those who don’t.

Some Muslim New Yorkers said they hope when Mamdani takes office, he remains accessible to them and active in the communities he campaigned in.