Black New York isn\u2019t buying it. <\/p>\n
A slew of black Big Apple residents fumed Friday over mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani\u2019s<\/a> claim on an Ivy League college application that he is African American \u2014 with them raging the socialist pol is a \u201cfraud\u201d and \u201ctrickster.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just trying to get over,\u201d an 86-year-old Harlem resident, identifying herself only as Marjorie, said of Mamdani, a socialist of Asian Indian descent.<\/p>\n Zohran Mamdani checked off \u201cAfrican American\u201d as well as \u201cAsian\u201d on his Columbia University application in 2009, leading to controversy. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cYou can look at him and see he\u2019s not\u201d black, she said. \u201cAbsolutely not.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like him. I didn\u2019t like him from the first time I heard him. You can look at him and see he\u2019s a trickster,\u201d she said of the pol, who struggled mightily to make inroads among black voters at the Democratic primary-race polls last month, despite his stunning win.<\/p>\n Another longtime local who asked not to be identified seethed, \u201cHe\u2019s a fraud.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a foreigner. He ain\u2019t no African American,\u201d the man said of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda but became a naturalized US citizen in 2018 and holds dual citizenship between the countries.<\/p>\n A Bronx resident named Joshua added, \u201cHe\u2019s a liar. Point-blank, period.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need a lying mayor or a mayor that says he\u2019s black so he can get black people to vote for him.<\/p>\n Mamdani told street performer Crackhead Barney in April that it would be \u201cmisleading\u201d to identify himself as African American.<\/p>\n \u201cWe black,\u201d he said. \u201cWe ain\u2019t stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, had checked off the \u201cblack or African American\u201d<\/a> and \u201cAsian\u201d boxes on his 2009 Columbia University application regarding his race, the New York Times reported last week. <\/p>\n The university, where Mamdani\u2019s father was and still is a professor, had affirmative-action-friendly admissions policies at the time, which the pol\u2019s critics allege he may have been trying to take advantage of. Either way, Mamdani failed to get into the prestigious school.<\/p>\n Mamdani told the Times that while he doesn\u2019t consider himself black or African American, he is \u201can American who was born in Africa\u201d \u2014 and simply felt the other choices on the form didn\u2019t fully address who he is.<\/p>\n The socialist checked off the questionable box about race in his application to Columbia University. GHI\/Education Images\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n But when asked by a performance artist on the street in April whether he considers himself African American, he admitted it would be \u201cmisleading\u201d to say so.<\/p>\n A Bronx resident said Mamdani\u2019s claim in 2009 was shameful.<\/p>\n \u201cI always knew something was off about him,\u201d said Maria R., 37, to The Post. \u201cWhy are you claiming something that you are not? He could\u2019ve potentially took away an opportunity for someone else.<\/p>\n Every morning, the NY POSTcast <\/a>offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post\u2019s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHe can look in the mirror and see he\u2019s not black,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Tiffany Francis, a 31-year-old from Brooklyn who moved to Harlem in 2019, agreed that his claim was \u201cnot fair.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people should tell the truth,\u201d Francis said. \u201cNo matter the circumstances, just be truthful. Don\u2019t try to persuade or lie to get your way.\u201d<\/p>\n Black New Yorkers said Mamdani\u2019s \u201cAfrican American\u201d claim makes him a \u201cfraudster\u201d and a \u201ctrickster.\u201d Kyle Mazza\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n