Who is Zohran Mamdani? This is the Democratic candidate running for mayor of New York City

Zohran Mamdani is one of 13 candidates (10 Democrats, one Republican, two Independents) to become the next mayor of New York City and he is hoping frozen rents, free bus travel and a pledge to help the city’s transgender residents will help him cross the finish line.

Mamdani hoping to beat Cuomo to become NYC Mayor

The 33-year-old socialist could well get the chance to make his proposal a reality, with recent polls suggesting he is marginally ahead of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, which is on Tuesday, June 24.

Cuomo, the favorite to win earlier in the year, resigned as governor in 2021 after multiple accusations of sexual harassment.

Zohran Mamdani: housing, transportation and hunger strikes

Mamdani, a state Assemblymaker, was born in Uganda but raised in New York City, where he is in his third term representing the 36th Assembly District, which includes the Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, and Astoria Heights neighborhoods.

That the Democrat has promised to freeze rents and make bus travel free for everyone citywide shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given his history of focusing on housing and transportation reform during his time in the Assembly.

And Mamdani certainly can’t be criticized for failing to stand up for what he believes in, taking part in 15-day hunger strikes in support of New York taxi drivers, and for a ceasefire for the war in Gaza.

What are Zohran Mamdani’s plans for New York City?

The son of Columbia Professor Mahmood Mamdani and Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, he has made making New York City a “cheaper” and “easier” place to live central to his election campaign. Although perhaps his most eye-catching pledge concerns his plans for the LGBTQIA+ community, and the city’s transgender residents.

As first reported by the New York Sun, the Mamdani administration plans to allocate $65 million to gender-affirming care for transgender New Yorkers. Of that figure, $57 million would be directed to public hospitals, community clinics, federally qualified health centers, and nonprofits providing gender-affirming care, according to Mamdani’s campaign website. The remaining $8 million would be reserved for expanded related services.

As it stands, it is unclear as to whether the money would help individuals pay for gender transition surgery, or solely medication.

Mamdani’s pledge to the LGBTQIA+ community

Mamdani’s plan to further protect New York’s LGBTQIA+ community also includes “making New York City an LGBTQIA+ Sanctuary City,” in order to “strengthen and uphold the rights of queer and trans New Yorkers through multiple sanctuary protections”.

His administration also intends to “create the NYC Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs,” which would “expand and centralize the services and support for queer and trans New Yorkers”.

Mamdani’s pledge, which he describes as “necessary,” comes as a reaction to the decision made by New York hospitals to stop providing gender-affirming care, under pressure from the Trump administration.

Speaking to the New York Post, a campaign spokesperson defiantly claimed: “LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers are under attack by the Trump administration and Zohran is going to stand up for them as Mayor”.

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