Mamdani was born in Kampala<\/a>, Uganda<\/a>, in 1991. His mother, Oscar<\/a>-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair<\/a>, and his father, anthropologist<\/a> Mahmood Mamdani, met in 1989 when she was doing research in Kampala for her second film (Mississippi Masala [1991], starring Denzel Washington<\/a> and Sarita Choudhury). Both Nair and Mamdani had been born in India<\/a>, but he had grown up in Uganda.<\/p>\n While Zohran Mamdani was a child, he and his family moved around to accommodate his father\u2019s teaching positions. When he was seven, he moved with his family to New York City, and his father became an anthropology professor at Columbia University<\/a>. \u201cMy father raised me with a real sense of being African, being proud of that heritage,\u201d Mamdani later told New York magazine. His middle name is Kwame, after Kwame Nkrumah<\/a>, Ghana<\/a>\u2019s first prime minister<\/a>.<\/p>\n For his elementary education<\/a>, Mamdani attended Bank Street College of Education<\/a>\u2019s School for Children, a progressive private school in Manhattan<\/a>. Later he enrolled at the Bronx<\/a> High School of Science, where he cofounded a cricket<\/a> team and ran unsuccessfully to be the school\u2019s student vice president.<\/p>\n Becoming politically active <\/p>\n In 2010 Mamdani enrolled at Bowdoin College<\/a> in Maine<\/a>, where he cofounded a chapter of Students for Justice<\/a> in Palestine<\/a> and organized a boycott<\/a> of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in Africana studies.<\/p>\n Mamdani has said that grappling with U.S.<\/a> policy toward Israel<\/a> and Palestine was a formative political experience. \u201cWe say we care about freedom and justice and self-determination and yet for some reason we draw the line when it comes to Palestinians,\u201d he said in a 2023 interview. \u201cIt became a driving force for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Go beyond the basics with trusted, in-depth knowledge for professionals, students, and lifelong learners.\n <\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE<\/a><\/p>\n Mother and son at the movies<\/a>A 12-year-old Zohran Mamdani attends a screening of Fahrenheit 9\/11 in 2004 with his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair.(more)<\/p>\n After college, Mamdani joined Change Corps, a yearlong training program for community<\/a> organizers, but after six months he resigned, because he had been organizing a union<\/a> within the program and believed that he was about to be fired. He worked on one of his mother\u2019s films and formed a hip-hop<\/a> duo with a childhood friend, going by the name Young Cardamom (later Mr. Cardamom). Ultimately, he found a job as a foreclosure<\/a> prevention counselor<\/a> in Queens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mayor of New York City Mr. Mayor<\/a>Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City’s mayor on January 1, 2026. Sen. Bernie Sanders administered the oath of office while Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji\u00a0held the Qur\u02be\u0101n. Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor.(more) <\/p>\n In October 2024 Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City. From the outset, he made affordability his main campaign issue: \u201cWhat I will bring to this race is an explicit and relentless focus to the number one issue of importance to New York City voters,\u201d he told The Guardian<\/a> in announcing his candidacy. \u201cThey can\u2019t afford their rent. They can\u2019t afford their childcare. They can\u2019t afford transit. They can\u2019t afford their groceries.\u201d The policy priorities he ran on were freezing rents for tenants of rent-stabilized apartments, making public buses fast and fare-free, and launching a pilot program that would open a city-owned grocery store<\/a> in each borough.<\/p>\n Though Mamdani had little name recognition at the outset of his campaign, he quickly became a factor in the race, thanks in large part to the campaign\u2019s skillful use of videos on Instagram<\/a> and TikTok<\/a>. Those videos showed the charismatic<\/a> Mamdani walking the 13-mile length of Manhattan, greeting residents, and participating in a polar plunge while wearing a business suit to show his commitment to freezing rents. Even as pundits raved about his style, polls showed him trailing the favorite, Cuomo.<\/p>\n During the campaign, Mamdani was often criticized for his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict<\/a>, particularly the Israel-Hamas War<\/a>. He has said that Israel has \u201ca right to exist as a state with equal rights.\u201d However, he has declined to condemn the slogan \u201cGlobalize the intifada<\/a>.\u201d Intifada, an Arabic<\/a> word that means \u201crebellion\u201d or \u201cshaking off,\u201d has been used to refer to two popular uprisings by Palestinians calling for an end to Israel\u2019s occupation of the West Bank<\/a> and Gaza Strip<\/a> and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Mamdani has not used the slogan himself but has said that it speaks to \u201ca desperate desire for equality and equal rights<\/a> in standing up for Palestinian human rights.\u201d He has pointed to intifada\u2019s literal definition and noted that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum<\/a> used the term when translating exhibits about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising<\/a> against the Nazis<\/a> into Arabic. Moreover, he has spoken often about his commitment to combating antisemitism<\/a>.<\/p>\n On June 24, 2025, Mamdani won the New York City Democratic primary, taking 56 percent of the final vote to Andrew Cuomo\u2019s 44 percent. NPR<\/a> called his victory an \u201castonishing upset\u201d and suggested that it could be the start of a transformation<\/a> in national politics\u2014the beginning of \u201cthe Democrats\u2019 Tea Party<\/a> moment.\u201d Mamdani drove tens of thousands of new voters to the polls; indeed, turnout in some neighborhoods doubled or tripled 2021 levels.<\/p>\n Mamdani again faced Cuomo, running as an Independent, as well as Republican Curtis Sliwa<\/a> in the November 2025 general election that featured the highest voter turnout in a New York City mayoral election since 1969. He faced continued questions about his relative lack of experience and his qualifications to run the United States\u2019<\/a> largest city. His progressive<\/a> policy proposals won him the enthusiastic support of some of the Democratic Party\u2019s most liberal standard-bearers, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> of New York as well as independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> of Vermont<\/a>. Former vice president Kamala Harris <\/a>and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> also endorsed<\/a> Mamdani. But some high ranking New York Democrats, including \u2014 Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a>, and U.S. Senate<\/a> Democratic leader Chuck Schumer<\/a>\u2014were slow to endorse<\/a> Mamdani. Jeffries threw his support to Mamdani less than two weeks before Election Day. Schumer never endorsed Mamdani.<\/p>\n U.S. Pres. Donald Trump<\/a>, who endorsed Cuomo in the waning days of the campaign, threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani were elected. He also raised the possibility of arresting Mamdani and stripping him of his American citizenship<\/a>. (Mamdani became a citizen in 2018.) But the two men had what was characterized as a surprisingly cordial meeting at the White House<\/a> in the weeks after the election. \u201cI met with a man who … really wants to see New York be great again. I\u2019ll really be cheering for him,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Upon taking office on January 1, 2026, Mamdani became New York City\u2019s first Muslim<\/a> mayor, its first Indian American mayor, and its youngest mayor since 30-year-old Hugh J. Grant was elected in 1889.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tQuick Facts<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNotable Family Members: \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Show\u00a0more)<\/p>\n![\"Penguin,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775361684_456_inline-left.webp.webp\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmother Mira Nair<\/a><\/p>\n