Muslim voters cheer NYC mayoral front runner's rise but fear impact

Excitement over his success tempered by worry amid rise of Islamophobic sentiment

- Jeffery C. Mays and Wesley Parnell

Watching Mr Zohran Mamdani run for mayor of New York City has been an eyeopening experience for Ms Sabah Munawar.

As a Muslim who grew up in the shadow of Sept 11, Ms Munawar said she was amazed that Mr Mamdani seemed to be on the verge of becoming New York City’s mayor, and having done so while fully embracing his faith on the campaign trail.

But as Islamophobic sentiment about Mr Mamdani has grown in reach and frequency, she has realised there is a dark side to his success.

“Some days I look at it and think this feels worse because back then so many people were in the shadows and scared, and so they weren’t visible,” Ms Munawar, a project manager, said during an interview at MAS Youth Centre in Bath Beach, Brooklyn.

“And now, people are saying, ‘we are here’, and the vitriol is worse.”

Mr Mamdani, who maintains a double-digit lead in most polls, is seeking to become the first Muslim mayor of New York City - an obvious point of pride for the many Muslims nestled in pockets throughout the city that stretch from Little Yemen in the Bronx to Little Bangladesh in Brooklyn.

But in dozens of interviews last week, Muslim voters said their excitement has been tempered by an uptick in what they view as Islamophobic attacks against Mr Mamdani, now one of the most high-profile Muslims in the country.

They cheer Mr Mamdani’s ascendancy, and see new possibilities for themselves and their children. But they also worry for his safety, and wonder how the presence of a Muslim mayor might affect life for the hundreds of thousands of others in the city who share his faith.

“Within the community, they are taking the comments directed at Mamdani as personal attacks on Muslims,” said Mr I. Daneek Miller, a former City Council member from southeast Queens who is Muslim. “They’re fearful that there will be repercussions beyond this election.”