"I Think That Protest Is a Healthy Part of Any Democracy," Says Mamdani

"The night before Election Day, Zohran Mamdani - who was elected New York City's 111th mayor on Tuesday - hopped on the W train from 34th Street-Herald Square to Queens for an event with canvassers at Dutch Kills Playground. We took the ride with him, and this is what we saw: Some gasped when they saw who it was, with one man grabbing a selfie on the platform with the then-candidate before the train arrived."

""Good luck tomorrow!" a woman shouted as she walked up the subway steps. "Oh my God!" a group of Bronx High School of Science students screamed when they saw him get in their subway car. A decade and a half ago, he was a student there, too. The candidate and THE CITY sat in the corner of a train car with the classic and soon-to-be discontinued orange-and-yellow conversation seats and talked about what is to come. Although it was rush hour, the subway car was nearly silent as fellow straphangers listened in to the interview."

""When we started the campaign, it felt like the general political instinct was to wait ... that the consensus was that it was too early to go so fast. And I think a big part of the story of this campaign is that we started sprinting from the first day. And we were sprinting not just for the New Yorkers you'd think of as likely to vote in the primary, but frankly just for New Yorkers at large. So that - that was some"

Zohran Mamdani was elected New York City's 111th mayor after a closely watched race against Independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani campaigned aggressively, conducting door-to-door outreach and public events, including a subway ride the night before Election Day to meet canvassers and riders. The campaign prioritized reaching a wide array of New Yorkers beyond typical primary voters and generated visible enthusiasm from commuters and students. Public recognition included selfies and shouted encouragement, and campaign strategy emphasized starting fast and maintaining momentum from day one to broaden voter engagement across the city.

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