Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani delivered a passionate victory speech late Tuesday, declaring his election a historic mandate for progressive change. The 34-year-old, soon to become New York City’s first socialist, first Muslim, and first mayor of South Asian descent, celebrated his win at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre. Mamdani, born in Uganda and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, dedicated his victory to immigrant and working-class New Yorkers, condemning Islamophobic attacks on his campaign and quoting figures like Eugene Debs and Jawaharlal Nehru to frame his triumph as part of a broader struggle for justice and renewal.

In his speech, Mamdani expressed deep gratitude to the city’s working-class residents, vividly describing the bruised hands and calloused palms of those who powered his campaign. He contrasted their struggles with the political establishment, celebrating the grassroots effort that fueled his historic win. Mixing defiance with determination, Mamdani targeted President Trump and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, asserting that New Yorkers had delivered “a mandate for a new kind of politics.” He pledged to implement sweeping reforms, including a rent freeze for regulated apartments, free citywide bus service, universal child care, and the creation of a Department of Community Safety to handle mental health emergencies instead of the NYPD.

Mamdani framed these policies as essential to supporting working-class and marginalized communities facing high living costs, calling for bold leadership rather than timidity. He declared his victory the end of a political era dominated by establishment figures, pointedly remarking, “Let tonight be the final time I utter [Andrew Cuomo’s] name.” Quoting Mario Cuomo’s adage about campaigning in poetry and governing in prose, Mamdani promised to meet the high expectations awaiting his administration. Closing on a hopeful note, he told supporters that the power belonged to them, declaring, “New York, this city belongs to you.”