Zohran Mamdani Won. I Spent the Evening With the People Angriest About It.

"Andrew Cuomo lost the New York City mayoral election so fast I almost missed it. The plan was to be in the room with the die-hard Cuomo-corps when the networks called the race for Zohran Mamdani, to soak up the scene as the last gasp of centrist dreams got flushed out of a midtown hotel ballroom. But by around 9:30 p.m., it was already over."

"The Italian joint was playing host to the other loser in last night's race: second-time Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Rachel was there because her life was hard, genuinely hard in a way that many Americans will immediately understand. She lived in government housing and was working hard to keep her two kids fed, but they were constantly disrupted by an upstairs neighbor with undefined mental health issues who was pounding on the walls and ceiling at all hours of the day."

Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race in a decisive upset that shifted political momentum. The victory ranks among the biggest upsets in decades and signals a movement affecting the national Democratic Party. Andrew Cuomo lost quickly and was forced to run on the "Fight and Deliver" party line after his defeat in the Democratic primary. Curtis Sliwa, the second-time Republican nominee, held a small event at an Italian restaurant. A resident named Rachel, living in government housing, described an upstairs neighbor with apparent mental-health issues who pounded on walls and ceilings; 311 and the police did not resolve the problem and the noise frightened her daughter.

Read at Slate Magazine