Muslim communities cheered across New York Tuesday night as Zohran Mamdani secured the mayoral race, with hundreds gathering in a Queens coffee shop for an election night celebration hosted by the Muslim Democratic Club of New York and allied organizations, The New York Times reported.
Mamdani's January 1 inauguration establishes him as America's most prominent Muslim elected official. By late Tuesday, Mamdani accumulated approximately one million votes — roughly half of the more than two million cast — marking the highest NYC mayoral race total in over 50 years. The affordability message proved decisive, attracting masses of working-class voters, many casting first-time ballots, with working-class Muslims prominently featured.
#WATCH | Slogans of "Free Palestine" being chanted outside the Zohran Mamdani campaign HQ in New York City, as hundreds of his supporters gather here. Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral election. pic.twitter.com/ejW1cpLits
— ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2025
Mamdani's campaign blended social-media expertise with traditional grassroots organizing, deploying thousands of volunteers for door-knocking throughout heavily Muslim areas in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx while communicating in Arabic, Bangla, and Urdu. He incorporated his faith by praying with fellow Muslims during visits exceeding 50 mosques and generated viral attention by posting a photo showing him eating a burrito on the Q train to break his Ramadan fast, which Muslim New Yorkers saw as a comfortable acknowledgment of their daily faith and culture. Rana Abdelhamid, a Queens nonprofit founder, told The New York Times: "Muslims are literally everywhere in the city" and "Educators, business owners from bodegas. Walk down the street, you're going to get halal food. We've been the backbone of so many parts of the city for so long, and now this is our time."
Video: Mamdani's victory speech in New York on Nov. 4, 2025/Reuters
Multiple Muslim community leaders anticipate increased political engagement citywide following Mamdani's victory, with two Bangladeshi candidates recently announcing Queens campaigns, including Mary Jobaida, who is seeking Mamdani's Astoria state assembly seat.
