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“Future in our hands,” Mamdani tells supporters after NYC mayor win
Zohran Mamdani becomes the first Indian-American, first Muslim, and youngest person elected New York City mayor. Mamdani asserts his identity, quotes Nehru’s “tryst with destiny” speech saying NY has stepped “from the old into the new”.
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Pranavi Sharma - Wed, 05, Nov 2025
- 00:13 EST
- 34
Mamdani, 32, a Democrat from Queens, becomes the youngest, the first Indian-American, and the first Muslim to be elected mayor of New York City. / X
Zohran Mamdani declared victory in New York City’s mayoral race on Nov. 4 night, telling cheering supporters that “the future is in our hands” after defeating Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo in a contentious contest that drew national attention.
Mamdani, 32, a Democrat from Queens, becomes the youngest, the first Indian-American, and the first Muslim to be elected mayor of New York City. He will replace Eric Adams when sworn in on Jan. 1.
“The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said at his victory rally in Brooklyn. “Tonight, you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford.”
ALSO READ: Zohran Mamdani first Indian-American to win NYC mayor post
Cuomo, the former New York governor, conceded the race and congratulated Mamdani, saying, “Tonight was their night… We want our city government to work for all New Yorkers, because our city is the greatest city in the world.”
The election drew heightened attention after President Donald Trump endorsed Cuomo and threatened to cut off federal funding to the city if Mamdani was elected. Following Mamdani’s win, Trump posted a brief message on Truth Social: “REPUBLICANS, TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER! GET BACK TO PASSING LEGISLATION AND VOTER REFORM!”
In his speech, Mamdani indirectly addressed Trump’s earlier remarks. “Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said to loud applause.
He acknowledged that expectations for his administration would be high once he takes office in 58 days. Quoting a former New Yorker, he said, “You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose. If that must be true, let the prose we write still rhyme, and let us build a shining city for all.”
Reflecting on his campaign, Mamdani noted his identity and political stance as points of pride rather than weakness. “I am young. I am Muslim. I am a Democratic Socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” he said.
He urged Democrats to move beyond caution and reclaim ambition. “We have bowed at the altar of caution and paid a mighty price,” he said. “Too many working people cannot recognize themselves in our party. No longer will we have to open a history book for proof that Democrats can dare to be great.”
Mamdani also outlined what that greatness should look like for ordinary New Yorkers. “It will be felt by every rent-stabilized tenant who wakes up each month knowing their rent hasn’t soared,” he said. “It will be felt by each grandparent who can afford to stay in the home they have worked for, and by the single mother whose bus runs fast enough that she can make it to work on time.”
He closed his remarks with a call for unity and purpose. “Let the words we’ve spoken together, the dreams we’ve dreamt together, become the agenda we deliver together,” Mamdani said. “New York, this power—it’s yours. This city belongs to you.”
In a moment of reflection, Mamdani drew from India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, quoting from Nehru’s Tryst with Destiny speech: “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new.” Mamdani added, “Tonight, New York has stepped from the old into the new.”
He dedicated his victory to those “so often forgotten by the politics of this city,” including “Senegalese taxi drivers, Uzbek nurses, and Trinidadian line cooks.”
“This city is your city,” he said. “And this democracy is yours, too.”
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