A CITY IS NOT made by its skyline. It is shaped in scaffolding shadows, in the pauses between subway announcements, in the silent arithmetic of parents choosing between groceries and rent. Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy starts from that premise. His politics do not orbit the power centres of Manhattan boardrooms or Albany back channels. They come from the corners — union meetings, legal aid desks, mosque courtyards, late-night service jobs. That perspective, grounded and unflinching, is exactly why The Thursday Times is endorsing him to be the next mayor of New York City.
Let us be clear: Mamdani is not a polished product of political machinery. His campaign is occasionally raw, sometimes overreaching, and prone to the kind of idealism that makes pragmatists twitch. But it is also the most serious, coherent, and morally compelling bid in this election. While his opponent Andrew Cuomo seeks to recast himself as a force of stability — despite a past marred by scandal and top-down governance — Mamdani is offering something we believe is more needed: a deliberate reordering of priorities.
His campaign is occasionally raw, sometimes overreaching, and prone to the kind of idealism that makes pragmatists twitch. But it is also the most serious, coherent, and morally compelling bid in this election.
The centre of his platform is unambiguous: a city that works for the many, not the few. His policy proposals — rent freezes for stabilised apartments, public grocery stores, free childcare, fare-free buses, and a $30 minimum wage by the end of the decade — are not minor tweaks to a broken system. They are statements of direction. Not all of them will pass untouched through the grinder of budget negotiations and bureaucracy. But Mamdani’s clarity on what the city owes its people is refreshing — and rare.
Where other candidates triangulate, Mamdani tends to name names. He challenges the political comfort enjoyed by real estate interests, gig economy corporations, and police unions. That has earned him enemies. But politics is about choices, not consensus. And Mamdani is clear about his: protect tenants, not developers; fund care, not carceral expansion; prioritise dignity over efficiency metrics. For voters tired of mayors who talk progressive and govern with donor handbooks in hand, this clarity is not radical — it’s overdue.
It is also no coincidence that Mamdani’s rise has struck a deep chord within New York’s South Asian communities — particularly among working-class Pakistani and Indian immigrants. For decades, these communities have lived on the edge of visibility: vital to the city’s workforce yet largely excluded from its political imagination. Mamdani doesn’t just acknowledge their presence; he speaks their language, both literally and politically. His background — born in Kampala, raised in New York, the son of a South Asian mother who is herself a cultural icon — carries weight among families who have long watched American politics from the outside, wondering when someone would enter the arena not just on their behalf, but from their world.
It is also no coincidence that Mamdani’s rise has struck a deep chord within New York’s South Asian communities — particularly among working-class Pakistani and Indian immigrants.
In him, many Desis see something rare: a public figure who understands the ache of remittances, the stress of undocumented status, the double shift of economic hardship and racial surveillance. His solidarity with Muslim New Yorkers, his defence of Palestinian rights, and his insistence that immigrant communities be protected and empowered — not merely tolerated — resonates in Jackson Heights, in Midwood, in Richmond Hill. In an age where visibility is often symbolic, Mamdani’s presence feels like something more concrete: representation with teeth.
Of course, this has made him a target. He has faced bomb threats, slurs, doctored images. His beard, name, and faith have all been turned into political weapons. A Cuomo-aligned super PAC circulated mailers aimed at Jewish voters, darkening his photo and painting him as an existential threat. These attacks have not derailed him — but they are a grim reminder of the narrow path candidates like Mamdani are forced to walk: performative assimilation on one side, vilification on the other. That he continues forward, without pandering, says something not about heroism, but about resolve.
New York does not need another manager. It needs a mayor who understands who the city is really for — and who is willing to fight to make that true.
Cuomo, by contrast, is betting that New Yorkers prefer familiarity — even when it comes wrapped in controversy. His funders include the co-founder of Home Depot, a hedge fund billionaire, and DoorDash — whose labour practices Mamdani has vowed to confront. The contrast could not be clearer: Mamdani’s campaign is powered by small-dollar donations and thousands of volunteers. Cuomo’s is powered by money. Mamdani walks neighbourhood blocks. Cuomo walks back his past.
This is not an endorsement of fantasy. It is an endorsement of direction. Of course not every item in Mamdani’s platform will materialise. Of course politics will demand compromise. But in Mamdani, we see someone who will begin the hard work from the right starting point — with the right questions and the right loyalties. That is more than most candidates can claim.
New York does not need another manager. It needs a mayor who understands who the city is really for — and who is willing to fight to make that true. We believe Zohran Mamdani is best placed to do that. He doesn’t offer a quick fix. He offers a necessary fight. And for many in our own communities — immigrant, working-class, South Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Latino, tenant, teacher, dreamer — that fight finally feels like one the little guy might win.
