Inside Mamdani’s campaign to be mayor of New York City

19 snips

Oct 23, 2025

Eric Lach, a staff writer at The New Yorker, dives into Zohran Mamdani’s unexpected rise in the New York mayoral race. They discuss Mamdani's bold policies to tackle the cost of living, including proposals for increased housing and higher taxes on the wealthy. Lach sheds light on Mamdani's handling of past police comments and the potential fallout regarding his views on Israel and Gaza. With insights from his campaign trail, he assesses how Mamdani might navigate a possible clash with Donald Trump if elected.

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INSIGHT

Rapid Rise Through Focused Messaging

Zohran Mamdani rose from near-zero name recognition to frontrunner by focusing relentlessly on affordability.
His clear, disciplined messaging on cost-of-living issues drove rapid voter adoption across demographics.

INSIGHT

Affordability As A Political Magnet

Mamdani centers his campaign on affordability: housing, childcare and transit.
That single-issue clarity helped him bypass critiques about experience or ideological labels.

INSIGHT

Ambitious Policies With Fiscal Constraints

His platform includes costly programs like free buses and universal childcare funded by higher taxes on the very rich.
He claims a millionaire surtax and higher corporate taxes could raise substantial revenue, but legal and political limits exist.

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Voting starts on Saturday for one of America’s biggest and most prominent political positions. How did Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, emerge as the frontrunner to be the next mayor of New York, despite being virtually unknown at the start of his campaign?

Sarah, Justin and Anthony look in more detail at his policies, and in particular the centrepiece of his campaign around the cost of living. Mamdani says he will make New York more affordable, by increasing housing stock, raising taxes for the rich and bringing down the cost of rent. How realistic are his promises and how much could it matter if he can’t deliver? We also unpack his views on Israel and Gaza, and how his views on Gaza could affect the Jewish vote in New York, the biggest outside of Israel.

We get an inside track on Mamdani’s campaign from Eric Lach, staff writer at the New Yorker, who has been following him on the campaign trail, from before he won the primaries, to having dinner at Mamdani’s apartment in Queens. He also shares his views on how Mamdani will handle the NYPD, the country’s largest police department, after calling for the police to be defunded in 2020.

Donald Trump has made clear he thinks Mamdani is a radical left communist, so how might he handle the US president if he is elected as mayor? And how might Donald Trump target New York in return? HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

GUEST: • Eric Lach, Staff Writer at the New Yorker

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This episode was made by Purvee Pattni, Grace Reeve and Alix Pickles. The technical producer was James Piper. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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