Zohran Mamdani’s transformative child care plan builds on a history of NYC social innovations
by SIMON BLACK
Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old New York State Assembly member and democratic socialist, was elected New York City’s mayor on Nov. 4, 2025, after pledging to make the city more affordable through policies that include freezing rents, providing free public buses and a network of city-owned grocery stores.
During his campaign, Mamdani’s promises clearly resonated with New Yorkers struggling with the high cost of living.
Of all of Mamdani’s campaign commitments, free high-quality child care for every New Yorker from 6 weeks to 5 years old – while boosting child care workers’ wages to match that of the city’s public school teachers – could be the most transformative.
The cost of child care in New York City is expensive. More than 80% of families with young children cannot afford the average annual cost of US$26,000 for center-based care. A recent study found that families with young children are twice as likely to leave the city as those without children. The study identified housing and child care costs as key drivers of migration out of the city.
New York’s child care problem mirrors a nationwide system that is seen by many experts as broken. U.S. families spend between 8.9% and 16% of their median income on full-day care for one child. And prices have been rising: Between 1990 and 2024, the cost of day care and preschool rose 263%, much faster than overall inflation.
Despite high prices, child care workers are poorly paid: In 2024, the median pay for child care workers, who are mostly women and often women of color, was $15.41 an hour, or $32,050 a year. That’s nearly at the bottom of all occupations when ranked by annual pay. Additionally, child care programs face high turnover, and it’s difficult for them to recruit and retain qualified staff. Program quality suffers as a result.
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In Zohran Mamdani, Democracy Has Recovered Its Language
by APOORVANAND
The images and sounds from Zohran Mamdani’s victory celebration are surreal.
On one side, his Punjabi Hindu mother in a sari; on the other, his Ugandan-Gujarati-American Muslim father in a suit. His Syrian Arab wife by his side. And playing in the background, a Hindi Bollywood song, ‘Dhoom mach?le.’ It felt almost like a dream.
The scene radiated diversity, but it would have been incomplete without the words Mamdani spoke before all these people appeared on stage. Diversity, he reminded us, is never enough if it does not rest on the ground of equality. After all, the Republican Party too can claim diversity: the US Vice-President J.D. Vance’s wife is a Hindu of Indian origin; many of its officials are neither American-origin nor Christian. Yet, none of them, like their leader, Donald Trump, believes in the principle of equality.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoral election is the result of millions believing in something that seemed impossible only a year back. In his victory speech, Mamdani – who has just turned 34 – reminded everyone how much was stacked against him: that despite his wish to be older, he could not not be young; that he is Muslim; and that he is a democratic socialist. And, most damning of all, that he refuses to apologise for any of these ‘deficiencies’.
There was something else that counted against him. Mamdani had declared without hesitation that if Benjamin Netanyahu ever came to New York, he would be arrested. Mamdani in called Netanyahu a war criminal. He refused to accept Israel as a Jew-only state. Even under provocation, he held firmly to his position: that Israel does have a right to exist as a sovereign state – but only as a nation where everyone enjoys equal rights. To say this, in New York – the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel – demanded an unshakable faith in the principle of equality.
Yet for Mamdani, it was not only a matter of his principles. He trusted that Jews in America and New York were, at heart, humane people who believed in justice. For what is humanity, after all, if it is not suffused with the spirit of equality and fairness? The Jews did not disappoint him. They rejected the idea of Jewish supremacy and affirmed that they were no different from other New Yorkers – that their needs, their dignity, and their longing for justice and equality could not be ranked above anyone else’s. Jews need not be seen as a people apart.
It is true that millions of voters believed in these ideas. But they did so because Mamdani himself believed in them with conviction. Whenever asked about his identity, he never tried to take the easy way out by saying he was “American first.” His courage lay precisely in his refusal to evade the question. Character is tested when one stands by what can harm them most. In America, the Muslim identity has been criminalised. To embrace it fully is not easy for any politician. Mamdani took that difficult path.
To call oneself a democratic socialist in America is no less risky, though the idea has a long history there. Just as Rahul Gandhi has been branded a Maoist or an “urban Naxal” in India, Mamdani too was branded a ‘communist lunatic’ to scare traditional voters. Yet he never flinched. He explained democratic socialism with a rare simplicity, invoking Martin Luther King Jr., “Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism – there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.”
Mamdani’s campaign revolved around a single idea: that living in New York should be easy for everyone. He promised rent control, free bus service, and higher wages for workers. Where would the money come from? He said plainly: from higher taxes on the wealthy. What could be more terrifying in America than that? Billionaires poured millions into defeating him — but the power of money was met, and overcome, by the power of the people.
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In rebuke to Trump’s fascism, Mamdani elected mayor of New York City, Democrats sweep governor races
by JACOB CROSSE
On Tuesday, 190 elections spanning more than 30 states in the US took place, including the mayoral election in New York City and gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The elections unfolded under conditions of mounting authoritarianism and deepening class polarization.
The New York City mayoral election
In the financial center of the American capitalism, Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory marks a development of immense political significance. Until recently a virtually unknown assemblyman and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Governor Mario Cuomo and a longtime representative of the New York political establishment, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani’s margin of victory was significant, achieving over 50 percent of the vote compared to Cuomo’s 41 percent and Sliwa’s 7 percent. Over 2 million votes were cast, the most since 1969, and 17 percent of those who voted were first-time voters.
According to the New York Times, more than 735,000 New Yorkers cast early ballots ahead of Tuesday’s in-person vote, the highest ever for a non-presidential election in New York City. Of those early votes, 42 percent were cast by people between the ages of 18-44, 2 percent higher than in the 2024 presidential election early vote. The last New York Times/Siena poll conducted in September found younger voters preferred Mamdani over Cuomo by 73 to 10 percent.
While Mamdani has gained the support of large sections of the Democratic Party establishment, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, an ardent Zionist and one of the most vocal supporters of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, refused to endorse Mamdani—the winner of his own party’s primary. Asked about the race Tuesday, Schumer remarked: “I voted and I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.”
Mamdani’s victory is not merely a rebuke to the Trump administration but to the Democratic Party establishment itself. The large vote for Mamdani is a distorted reflection of the growing support for socialism and the radicalization of the working class and youth.
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Zohran Mamdani and a small victory for the people
by MARGARET KIMBERLEY
New Yorkers experienced some democracy with Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the mayor’s race and are inspiring voters across the country to believe that change is possible. But the outcome is a challenge to the Democratic Party establishment and its donor class, who will not give up power easily in New York City or elsewhere.
The word democracy is thrown around rather loosely, and is largely misused by the scoundrels who want everything except governance by the people. There are many definitions of that word but its essence is the idea that the people will have their wants and needs met by the political system. Voting is one way to bring about democracy, but the system has become more and more corrupt over time, with billionaires making and breaking candidates and deciding who will or won’t be on a ballot before voters have any say in the process at all.
New York City voters gave themselves a little democracy by electing New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as their next mayor. Mamdani is young, 34-years old, has served only three terms in the Assembly, and was largely unknown to the public until he ran in the Democratic Party mayoral primary in 2025. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and as such is on the left wing of the democrats and therein lies an important tale.
Former governor Andrew Cuomo was also a candidate in the
primary. He resigned as governor in 2021 after growing and credible
allegations of sexual harassment lead to a loss of political support and
a possible expulsion from office. Cuomo was also responsible for
requiring nursing homes to admit patients who tested positive for
COVID-19, which led to an estimated 15,000 deaths which were covered up
by his administration and which also gave immunity to those
institutions where so many elderly people lost their lives. Cuomo was
known for being vindictive and self-serving, so unconcerned about the
welfare of New York State that he gave the 2020 census such a low priority that a congressional seat was lost.
Cuomo
believed that name recognition and more importantly, the backing of
billionaire donors, would suffice even if his scandals were not erased
from public memory. He had good reason to be confident because money
does rule politics in the United States. The candidate with a bigger
campaign war chest is usually the winner and Cuomo was not unrealistic
in thinking that he would emerge triumphant. But he came in second in
the primary to Mamdani and continued his campaign as an independent.
Mamdani had prodigious fundraising of his own and he had a message which resonated with voters. He ran on the issue of “affordability.” New York City has become largely unaffordable to working people, and in particular to Black people with 200,000 leaving since the year 2000. The price of housing is the primary cause of the exodus as even those neighborhoods which gave Black workers the possibility of home ownership are rapidly being gentrified. Living wage work is scarce and all of the promises of “middle class” life for U.S. workers are now illusory.
While corporate media and the Democratic Party establishment dismissed his ideas about city-run grocery stores, voters who are constrained by the rising cost of food or who live in food deserts, were supportive. Mamdani also proposes freezing rents for rent stabilized apartments and making public buses free.
These plans, which addressed pressing needs, were dismissed as being outlandish and impossible even though they have been a reality in the recent past. Former mayor Bill de Blasio enacted three rent freezes during his two terms in office. Buses were free during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Mamdani was painted as a Muslim socialist or a communist who would also bring Sharia Law to New York, voters were well aware that the City of New York could possibly do for them again what it had done previously.
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Mayor Mamdani’s New York victory signals a moral awakening in the US
by HAMID DABASHI
Against a tide of Islamophobia and Zionist propaganda from billionaires to media elites, the election of the city’s first Muslim mayor affirms justice and working-class solidarity
They gave him all the venomous hate they had: their nefarious billionaires, their genocide-supporting rabbis, their Islamophobic hatemongers, their stinking tabloids, their bought and paid for television stations, their fake news, their AI-powered Instagram feeds – even their president – and they still failed miserably.
Mayor Mamdani of New York: let the river run.
In the heat of the final week of the mayoral campaign in New York City in late October 2025, a group of pro-Israel rabbis published a letter against Zohran Mamdani, detailing why they were leading a crusade against the sole Muslim candidate.
The very title of their letter, “The Jewish Majority”, was fake news – a fraudulent claim, as there is no verifiable reason to believe this squad of wealthy and reactionary rabbis actually represents the majority of Jewish New Yorkers.
It is a typical hasbara technique, seeking to discredit countless other rabbis and their constituencies who refused to be part of this smear campaign. Quite the contrary, a significant portion of Jewish New Yorkers supported Mamdani and even campaigned for him.
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Nehru and Bollywood music: How Mamdani win resonates with Indian Muslims
by IMRAN MULLA
Indian opposition figures hail Mamdani, who has Gujarati Muslim heritage, as Hindu nationalist politicians rage
The news of Zohran Kwame Mamdani‘s election as mayor of New York City has triggered shockwaves thousands of miles away, in Mumbai and Delhi.
A man of Indian heritage being elected mayor of one of the world’s great cities would usually be a cause for celebration amongst Indian politicians and journalists.
Mamdani is not just an Indian but one of Gujarati heritage too, just like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But there is one key and consequential difference.
Zohran Mamdani is a Muslim and a staunch critic of India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Video clips went viral of the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist and New York state assemblyman quoting India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in his victory speech.
“A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance,” Mamdani proclaimed, reading from Nehru’s famous speech at the dawn of India’s independence from the British empire in 1947.
“Tonight, New York has done just that,” he added.
Zohran Mamdani closes victory speech as mayor of New York to Dhoom Machale. This is like a Bollywood movie in real life ?? pic.twitter.com/2M9ic2wazO — sohom (@AwaaraHoon) November 5, 2025
Mamdani then ended his victory speech to the sound of Dhoom Machale, a famous 2004 Bollywood song.
The music played as Mamdani’s Syrian-American wife Rama Duwaji, his Punjabi Hindu mother Mira Nair (a prominent filmmaker) and his Gujarati Shia Muslim father, the academic Mahmood Mamdani, joined him on stage.
BJP vs Mamdani
Mamdani has never hidden his Indian identity. He often appeared in campaign videos wearing traditional Indian clothing, and even faced racist abuse from right-wing American commentators after he was photographed eating biryani with his fingers.
Significantly, however, figures from India’s ruling BJP have been unusually quiet in response to Mamdani’s victory.
Many X users are still waiting for the customary congratulatory tweet from Prime Minister Modi.
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Why do NRIs hate Mamdani? Because he threatenstheir ‘American’ dream
by NISHTHA GAUTAM
Mamdani’s unapologetic leftism, his advocacy for tenants’ rights, and his support for Palestine challenge the sanitised image of “model minority”. Mamdani is more West Village than Wall Street, and this is what scares a section of NRIs in America.
One could get used to all kinds of sadness, stoics suggest. All except one: the kind that’s caused by seeing a nemesis rise higher and higher. Especially when the nemesis has managed to thwart all possible efforts to rein in their ascent. This variety of sadness begins and ends with hate.
As New York City danced to the tune of Dhoom Machale, the haters of the 111th mayor-elect, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, got burdened by the same unbearable sadness in the US and in India.
The Irony With Us
There’s something to be said about Indians still dissing Mamdani when the Trump administration has been turning up the heat on visa policies that directly hurt NRIs living in the US and stymie the plans of many prospectives. There’s something to be said about the immigration of traditional hatreds piggybacking on the H1B visa holders.
There is a particular brand of conservative Indians that is quick to label any compatriot who doesn’t believe in their divisive ideas as “self-hating Indians”. In a twist of fate, the label has now got affixed on their own foreheads. By constantly kicking the proverbial axe in a show of sterile rage, conservative Indians have been empowering the beast of racial hatred and discrimination. During Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, a bunch of Indian-Americans echoed the sentiments shared by the White supremacists.
By refusing to be apologetic about his identity, Mamdani has irked a lot of Indians, offshore and onsite! Constantly attacked for his criticism of Israel’s actions against Palestine by Americans, Mamdani became a garden-variety hate object for all majoritarian supremacists.
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