There are many former New Yorkers who feel connected to the city and want to weigh in on the mayoral election, but as they cannot vote where they do not live, they called on their family members and friends in the boroughs, donated, and canvassed for their preferred candidates. Having lived most of my life in Queens and commuting to the borough daily for work, I could not sit out the most consequential election in the city’s history.
Despite social media buzz, polling, and seemingly most of the city’s political reporters favoring Astoria Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, voters who were troubled by his lack of experience, Marxism, and antisemitism were not discouraged by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 12-point loss to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
I spent the day outside my alma mater, Russell Sage Junior High School in Forest Hills, a battleground between older voters who were expected to vote for Cuomo and younger newcomers to the city who were excited about Mamdani. The volunteer standing outside the polling site is the last voice of a campaign that voters see before entering the building to cast their vote. They’ve heard opposing arguments on social media, television, text messages, mail, and literature left on their doors. Nearly all voters who walked past me had made up their minds, so what was the purpose of my presence then?
It was to offer encouragement to fellow Cuomo supporters, cheering them on as they faced ridicule for electing a candidate with a history of harassment allegations, supporting an “Independent Democratic Conference” in the State Senate that kept Republicans in power, signing bail reform into law, and heavy-handed policies during the COVID pandemic that exacerbated the death toll among seniors. Our candidate was far from perfect; he did not have the youthful appearance, slick social media, or precedent-setting image of being the first Muslim mayor. His personality and policies were as flawed as outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump — but when our security is threatened, we are not seeking an idealized hero. We had a candidate with results to his name.
Cuomo spoke of getting the first three stations completed on the Second Avenue Subway, the expansion of the Javits Center, replacement of the terminals at LaGuardia Airport, stormwater resiliency at the city’s underwater tunnels, and the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Perhaps not since Robert Moses has there been a leader who overcame opposition from lawmakers concerned about the cost of such projects and their visible extravagance — the state motto Excelsior appearing in large letters on bridges and tunnels alongside state troopers and the state flag, reminding city dwellers that we are part of the larger entity that shares the name New York.
History is written by winners, and there will be plenty of ink spilled on the surge of turnout among the city’s Muslim voters — the Hillside Avenue corridor, Jackson Heights, Parkchester, and Bay Ridge — as Mamdani’s faith-based supporters. There will be coverage of young professionals in neighborhoods dubbed the “commie corridor” that stretches along the East River from Astoria down to Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Sunset Park, with the Lower East Side on the opposite shore, where hundreds of thousands of first-time voters marked their ballots for Mamdani.
In 2024, President Trump spoke proudly of his victory margin and his supporters — those who switched parties for him, young Republicans with their own social media exemplified by the late Charlie Kirk, immigrants who believe in the American Dream and oppose Marxism and amnesty for illegal immigrants and criminals. Less documented were Kamala Harris’ voters, who offered the largest number of votes for a losing presidential candidate, concerned about the erosion of democracy and expanded powers given to the Executive Branch.
If the 2025 mayoral election brought out record Jewish turnout across the city, then it should be commended and mobilized for future elections on the local, state, and federal levels. Rather than give up on democracy, we can build on disaffected Jewish Democrats, Bukharians, Syrians, Russian-speaking Ashkenazim, Chasidim, Modern Orthodox, and non-Orthodox communities to hold incumbents accountable. If the Lakewood community is successful in electing Republican Jack Ciattarelli as governor of New Jersey in a tight election, New York’s Jewish voters can learn from their example to boost Elise Stefanik next year in her run against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani.
I urge readers not to leave the Democratic Party, as our primary votes can bolster moderate incumbents on the federal level who will have leftist challengers next year seeking to punish them for not kissing Mamdani’s ring. These include Reps. Greg Meeks, Grace Meng, Dan Goldman, Ritchie Torres, and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, nobody expected Trump to succeed him, but whenever political liberalism becomes excessive, leading to economic and societal failures, there is an inevitable conservative reaction seeking stability, preservation of individual freedoms, and the rule of law. The Crown Heights riots of the Dinkins administration inspired city voters to elect former prosecutor Rudy Giuliani as his successor. Similarly, the rise in crime on the subways under Bill de Blasio’s tenure and his promise to close Rikers Island inspired the election of former transit cop Eric Adams.
Mamdani’s supporters speak of a quote popularized by Martin Luther King Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” to suggest that socialism, Palestinian statehood, rent freezes, legalization of prostitution, abolition of solitary confinement and the death penalty, decriminalization of vices, and redefinition of gender identity are all inevitable. History has shown that there is no arc leading toward a liberal future. Karl Marx’s theory about slavery leading to feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and ending with communism was proven wrong by historical events.
With patience and determination, we can reclaim New York. When I stood outside Russell Sage, I met a Venezuelan woman who escaped socialism, young Bukharians who defied the expectations of their generation, elderly voters who resented being ridiculed by TikTokkers after devoting decades of labor and investment to this city. We have only begun to fight!