How Zohran Mamdani Can Succeed as Mayor
Assembling a successful electoral coalition is difficult, but forging a governing coalition to run the city is even harder. Longtime social movements scholar Peter Dreier offers some advice for the potential next mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani.
Zohran Mamdani during a campaign event at the NAN House of Justice in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, on June 28, 2025. (Adam Gray / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Zohran Mamdani ran a brilliant campaign that inspired a huge turnout, especially among young voters. The thirty-three-year-old Mamdani, a state assembly member from Queens and a democratic socialist, defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary on June 24; Cuomo said yesterday he will run on a third-party line in the general, so the election is not over. But for now, Mamdani has emerged victorious.
Pulling together a successful electoral coalition is difficult, but forging a governing coalition to run the city is even harder. As mayor, Mamdani will face major challenges. Here is some unsolicited advice for the next mayor of America’s largest city.
Capital Pushes Back
First, he’ll have to deal with opposition from Wall Street, the real estate industry, and the high-tech industry, among other business sectors. Mamdani’s platform included both very pragmatic ideas and some visionary ideas that will take time to gestate and gain wider public support. He called for a freeze on rents in rent-stabilized units (in which 2.4 million New Yorkers live), free buses, municipally owned grocery stores, and higher taxes on wealthy residents and corporations. Some business leaders have already accused him of being “anti-business” and threatened to leave New York City.
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