From scapegoats to city hall: how New York Muslims built power and shaped Zohran Mamdani

[BeyondGeography]

Life was never the same for New Yorkers after the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, with every resident coping with the trauma and devastation of that day. But for Muslim New Yorkers there was an added burden: the suspicion and sometimes physical harm now lurking around every corner.…Born out of necessity to counter a rising tide of Islamophobia, young Muslim New Yorkers have spent years developing political power in the city, building local political institutions, and leaning into a different kind of politics, one that embraces identity yet also moves beyond its sometimes shallow appeal.

As the Muslims of New York have been organizing, their numbers have also been steadily growing, making it impossible to ignore Muslim voters for anyone who wants to run for office and win. The city likely has about 1 million Muslims (there are no official numbers tallied for religious groups), which is about the same number as Jews in New York City. The Council on American-Islamic Relations estimates more than 350,000 Muslim New Yorkers of that million are registered to vote, though only about 12% voted in the 2021 mayoral election. That is also now changing. Muslim and South Asian voter turnout in the mayoral primary this summer was up 60% compared with the 2021 primary, according to the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. And despite what rival Andrew Cuomo claims when he stated last month that “the Muslim community are not socialists,” it is clear that Muslims are a growing political force pushing the Democratic party to the left on fundamental issues.

…“We could not hide the fact [from the world] that we are Muslim,” Dandia said, referring to himself and Mamdani. “Yet we do not anchor our politics strictly on these identitarian terms. Adequate housing is a ‘Muslim issue’, public transit is a ‘Muslim issue’, and universal childcare is a ‘Muslim issue’. Zohran fights for these issues because they advance the common good for all of us, Muslim or not, and align with both Democratic Socialist principles and Islamic values.”

Campaign fundraising statistics bear out how Mamdani’s affordability message is resonating beyond the confines of the Muslim community. According to Open Secrets, a non-partisan group tracking money in US politics, the Mamdani campaign has raised $16.8m, with about 90% of Mamdani’s donors contributing less than $250. The average contribution is $98. By contrast, the average contribution to the Cuomo campaign is $615, yet Cuomo has raised only $12.6m. Cuomo-supporting Super Pacs, on the other hand, have received 11 times as much money – including millions from Airbnb ($10m), former mayor Michael Bloomberg ($8.3m) and DoorDash ($1.8m) – than the Super Pacs that support Mamdani or oppose Cuomo.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/24/zohran-mamdani-muslim-new-yorkers-sept-11?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other