Celebrating Ramadan in the era of Zohran Mamdani, NYC's first Muslim mayor

"For Taher, who grew up in the Bronx in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent wave of Islamophobia that swept the city and country, the scene felt improbable. She recalls stories she'd heard growing up about family members and friends facing racist and anti-Muslim attacks. Her father, a taxi driver, was assaulted by a passenger, who hurled racial slurs at him."

"Muslim New Yorkers have been working for decades to gain acceptance, recognition, and institutional power, such as in their years-long battles to add Muslim holidays to the city's public school calendar and to end the NYPD's surveillance of Muslim communities. Many said Mamdani's meteoric rise, from assemblymember to mayor, has marked the start of a new era."

""[Nearly twenty-five] years later, after 9/11, having a Muslim mayor," Taher said before trailing off and breaking into tears. "It's humbling." Mamdani's inauguration delivered something unimaginable for many of the city's Muslims: representation of their identity for the first time among the elite echelons of political power in the city."

New York City firefighter Tahmida Taher participated in a historic iftar gathering at FDNY headquarters where Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city's first Muslim mayor, broke fast with dozens of Muslim firefighters and EMS workers. For Taher, who grew up in the Bronx following 9/11 and witnessed Islamophobia affecting her family, this moment represented profound change. Muslim New Yorkers have spent decades fighting for acceptance and institutional recognition, including efforts to add Muslim holidays to school calendars and end NYPD surveillance of Muslim communities. Mamdani's rise from assemblymember to mayor signals a new era of Muslim representation in New York City's political power structure, with his inauguration and presence at Gracie Mansion as the first Muslim mayor and first lady marking unprecedented institutional acknowledgment.

Read at Gothamist