Radical Takeover: Far-Left Millennial Ousts Cuomo, Seizes NYC Power

Paul Riverbank, 12/31/2025NYC elects Zohran Mamdani, ushering in a radical, millennial-led shift in city politics.

What made the difference? At a rally in Jackson Heights just weeks before the vote, I watched a crowd of parents, gig workers, and retirees chant for “free childcare” and “fast, free buses.” In these rooms, the talk wasn’t abstract—it was about trying to keep a roof overhead while groceries inch further out of reach. “Look, I’m on fixed income. Rent goes up, check stays the same,” a woman named Maria told me, waiting for a Mamdani town hall to start. The candidate’s reply? The city can’t afford to keep ignoring the cost-of-living crisis.

This directness hit a nerve—one that ran through TikTok feeds as easily as through kitchen tables in Woodside and the Bronx. It wasn’t only policy specifics that galvanized supporters, but the sense, too, of a larger reckoning within the Democratic Party. On one side, Cuomo’s backers—older, cautious, keen on stability—muttered about “radical leftism.” Cuomo himself was blunt: “You have an extreme left… Mamdani is just the banner carrier for that movement,” he grumbled on radio, venting about a party that no longer seemed to have room for moderation. Even so, party heavyweights hesitated: Chuck Schumer, uncharacteristically silent. Hakeem Jeffries, backing Mamdani in the game’s dying moments. Governor Hochul caught flak at one rally, heckled when she balked at tax hikes on the state’s richest.

And here lies the rub: Promises are easy, governing is harder. Mamdani’s idea to squeeze the city’s billionaires ran headlong into Albany’s realpolitik. Hochul won’t play ball; city revenue isn’t a game the mayor controls alone. Then there’s the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), pitched by progressives as a lifeline for tenants but derided by some council members as the thin end of a wedge. “Giving nonprofits a heads-up to buy is fair? Try saying that to a landlord on the brink,” Councilwoman Vickie Paladino fumed in a hallway one afternoon, calling COPA “government overreach, plain and simple.” Supporters say it's crucial, citing buildings along 125th Street about to go condo. Detractors, meanwhile, see “state takeovers.”

Tensions tangle further still around Mamdani’s stances on foreign policy and public safety. Voices from New York’s Jewish communities grew louder, especially after Mamdani refused to endorse Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and invoked “globalize the intifada” in past statements. I’ve heard from several rabbis, and the letter signed by over 600 across the country speaks volumes about the depth of concern—a ripple that even Mamdani’s attempts at reassurance couldn’t quite calm. On policing, he’s publicly apologized to officers but skepticism lingers, fueled by a digital archive of sharp-tongued tweets made in years past.

None of this, though, slowed the campaign’s momentum on social media. Where the old guard spent fundraising cycles and TV ad buys, Team Mamdani was busy with Instagram stories, New Media briefings, and crowdsourced campaign graphics. His campaign office, I noticed on a visit, looked more like a startup than a field headquarters—messy desks, triple screens, and the constant chime of WhatsApp.

Election night itself felt, in parts, like history and theater mashed together. Brooklyn Paramount was packed—half block party, half political statement. “New York will remain a city of immigrants—built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant!” Mamdani shouted, as screens in the back flashed with TikTok reels and volunteers hugged. He lobbed a barb at Donald Trump, promising, “To get to one of us, you’ll have to go through all of us.” Across the river, Trump fulminated on Truth Social, calling Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic,” having thrown his own support to Cuomo late in the contest. It didn’t stick.

Behind the spectacle, power brokers tried stopgaps. In the closing days, whispers ran through Midtown about a unity bid—maybe Sliwa, maybe Adams, all meant to rally against Mamdani. But the city’s newer, younger voters had moved on. It’s not clear yet whether Mamdani’s platform will survive the tangle of city and state machinery, let alone the crosscurrents of national politics. Is New York truly at the dawn of a new era, or merely caught up in the churn and tumult that marks every generational shift?

One thing’s clear, walking down Queens Boulevard the morning after the election: for millions of New Yorkers, the center of gravity has shifted. The city is heading someplace new, and everyone—supporters, skeptics, and the quietly worried old guard alike—is bracing to see just how far Mamdani’s movement can go.

The mayoral race in New York this year will likely be talked about for decades—not because it went to script, but because it veered so wildly from what anyone in City Hall or on Wall Street anticipated. Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old assemblyman with roots tracing to Uganda and India, swept into office in an upset so stunning it left long-time powerbrokers gaping. And not just because he beat Andrew Cuomo, the onetime governor whose return was supposed to signal, perhaps, a recentering of New York’s Democratic machine. This time, though, that machine sputtered on the side of the road while Mamdani, drawing on alliances with figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, zipped past.What made the difference? At a rally in Jackson Heights just weeks before the vote, I watched a crowd of parents, gig workers, and retirees chant for “free childcare” and “fast, free buses.” In these rooms, the talk wasn’t abstract—it was about trying to keep a roof overhead while groceries inch further out of reach. “Look, I’m on fixed income. Rent goes up, check stays the same,” a woman named Maria told me, waiting for a Mamdani town hall to start. The candidate’s reply? The city can’t afford to keep ignoring the cost-of-living crisis.This directness hit a nerve—one that ran through TikTok feeds as easily as through kitchen tables in Woodside and the Bronx. It wasn’t only policy specifics that galvanized supporters, but the sense, too, of a larger reckoning within the Democratic Party. On one side, Cuomo’s backers—older, cautious, keen on stability—muttered about “radical leftism.” Cuomo himself was blunt: “You have an extreme left… Mamdani is just the banner carrier for that movement,” he grumbled on radio, venting about a party that no longer seemed to have room for moderation. Even so, party heavyweights hesitated: Chuck Schumer, uncharacteristically silent. Hakeem Jeffries, backing Mamdani in the game’s dying moments. Governor Hochul caught flak at one rally, heckled when she balked at tax hikes on the state’s richest.And here lies the rub: Promises are easy, governing is harder. Mamdani’s idea to squeeze the city’s billionaires ran headlong into Albany’s realpolitik. Hochul won’t play ball; city revenue isn’t a game the mayor controls alone. Then there’s the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), pitched by progressives as a lifeline for tenants but derided by some council members as the thin end of a wedge. “Giving nonprofits a heads-up to buy is fair? Try saying that to a landlord on the brink,” Councilwoman Vickie Paladino fumed in a hallway one afternoon, calling COPA “government overreach, plain and simple.” Supporters say it's crucial, citing buildings along 125th Street about to go condo. Detractors, meanwhile, see “state takeovers.”Tensions tangle further still around Mamdani’s stances on foreign policy and public safety. Voices from New York’s Jewish communities grew louder, especially after Mamdani refused to endorse Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and invoked “globalize the intifada” in past statements. I’ve heard from several rabbis, and the letter signed by over 600 across the country speaks volumes about the depth of concern—a ripple that even Mamdani’s attempts at reassurance couldn’t quite calm. On policing, he’s publicly apologized to officers but skepticism lingers, fueled by a digital archive of sharp-tongued tweets made in years past.None of this, though, slowed the campaign’s momentum on social media. Where the old guard spent fundraising cycles and TV ad buys, Team Mamdani was busy with Instagram stories, New Media briefings, and crowdsourced campaign graphics. His campaign office, I noticed on a visit, looked more like a startup than a field headquarters—messy desks, triple screens, and the constant chime of WhatsApp.Election night itself felt, in parts, like history and theater mashed together. Brooklyn Paramount was packed—half block party, half political statement. “New York will remain a city of immigrants—built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant!” Mamdani shouted, as screens in the back flashed with TikTok reels and volunteers hugged. He lobbed a barb at Donald Trump, promising, “To get to one of us, you’ll have to go through all of us.” Across the river, Trump fulminated on Truth Social, calling Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic,” having thrown his own support to Cuomo late in the contest. It didn’t stick.Behind the spectacle, power brokers tried stopgaps. In the closing days, whispers ran through Midtown about a unity bid—maybe Sliwa, maybe Adams, all meant to rally against Mamdani. But the city’s newer, younger voters had moved on. It’s not clear yet whether Mamdani’s platform will survive the tangle of city and state machinery, let alone the crosscurrents of national politics. Is New York truly at the dawn of a new era, or merely caught up in the churn and tumult that marks every generational shift?One thing’s clear, walking down Queens Boulevard the morning after the election: for millions of New Yorkers, the center of gravity has shifted. The city is heading someplace new, and everyone—supporters, skeptics, and the quietly worried old guard alike—is bracing to see just how far Mamdani’s movement can go.