Taking on Trump, from the Big Apple

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral stint will have a resonance beyond New York

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 34, took the oath as the mayor of New York as the old year made way for the new.

Later on New Year’s Day, he attended a second public ceremony, watched by thousands of New Yorkers braving the winter chill, and announced that he would govern as a democratic socialist and “will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical”. When read with his promise to “deliver an agenda of safety, affordability and abundance — where government looks and lives like the people it represents”, it becomes clear why the mayor of an American city — not just another city but the world’s financial capital — has emerged as a leader whose election attracted global attention.