Mayoral race | Will New York defy Trump?

(New York) “The whole world is watching New York!” »

Saturday, three days before the election for mayor of the American megacity, this sentence resonated in a small park in Jamaica, the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Queens where Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate and favorite in the polls, held his last rally of the day.

The New York elected official who said it was not exaggerating. On Tuesday, voters in the capital of global capitalism could choose as mayor a socialist emulator of Bernie Sanders, this great slayer of millionaires and billionaires. And they could award a Muslim, pro-Palestinian politician the title of first citizen of the city with the most Jews in the world. A first which would be embodied by a member of the New York Assembly whose charisma, at 34 years old, is inversely proportional to experience.

All this in a context where Donald Trump, born in this same borough of Queens, threatens to punish the city of New York if it dares to elect the man he describes as a communist.

“The whole world is watching New York because they know we have an authoritarian president in the White House,” continued Jumaane Williams, New York ombudsman, addressing a crowd of around 300 people, most of them South Asian immigrants.

“And what excites me is that 20 years from now, I will be able to say that on a cold day in November, blacks and whites, Muslims and Jews, and the working class of this city said, ‘We will fight back by voting for Zohran Mamdani and making history.’ »

That still remains to be seen. In recent days, some polls have indicated a tightening of the race between Mamdani and former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is campaigning as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

Islamophobic attacks

A tightening which coincided with a flood of Islamophobic attacks to which Zohran Mamdani referred when in turn addressing the crowd gathered in Queens Park.

“I would just like to ask everyone present to raise their hands if they have ever been called a terrorist while living in this city,” he asked.

After mentioning other similar humiliations, the candidate added: “This is why these words offend me. They concern us all. »

Andrew Cuomo said some of these words during an interview with conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg on October 23.

“God save us from another September 11,” he said, asserting that his lack of experience made his main rival unfit for mayor of New York. “Can you imagine Mamdani in this position? »

“Yes, I could,” replied the host, who had called the Democratic candidate a “terrorist” shortly before. “He would be delighted (at another 9/11). »

And Andrew Cuomo continued, laughing: “That’s another problem. »

Since the start of his meteoric political rise, Zohran Mamdani has had to respond to accusations of anti-Semitism, particularly due to his criticism of Israel, which he accused of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

However, in recent days, it has also been associated with terrorism, jihadism and “Islamic extremism”, to use the words of the current mayor, Eric Adams, who has given up seeking a second term.

These attacks prompted him to address New York’s approximately 900,000 Muslims with a message about “Islamophobia” that some compared to Barack Obama’s famous speech on the racial issue during his first presidential campaign.

“I will no longer live in the shadows”

“To be a Muslim in New York is to expect to suffer humiliation,” declared the Democratic candidate during this speech which was viewed more than 25 million times on the internet. “But it’s not these humiliations that set us apart – many New Yorkers face them. Rather, it is the tolerance of these humiliations that sets us apart. In an era where bipartisanship continues to fade, Islamophobia has become one of the few areas of consensus. »

After discussing the temptation to hide one’s religion to avoid humiliation, he made this promise: “I will no longer live in the shadows. »

Like other New York Muslims, Zarif Rahat, a 32-year-old software developer, does not mention religion among his reasons for supporting Zohran Mamdani. He immediately talks about the candidate’s program, which advocates free buses and daycare, as well as the freezing of around 1 million rents.

“We need to make the city affordable,” he said after the speeches in Queens Park. “The city is currently unlivable for low-income and even middle-income workers. It shouldn’t be just for the rich. »

But this son of immigrants from Bangladesh admits to identifying with what Zohran Mamdani experiences as a Muslim.

“It’s really personal for me, because when Cuomo attacked him in an Islamophobic way, comparing him to a terrorist, that’s something I’ve experienced myself in New York in the past,” he said. It is a universal experience for Muslims. Islamophobia is pervasive in politics. »

Zohran Mamdani’s message on “Islamophobia” elicited much less favorable reactions from conservatives.

Born in Uganda

His speech “will likely narrow his lead,” wrote in the Wall Street Journal Karl Rove, former Republican strategist, criticizing his tone “imbued with anger, bitterness (and) division”.

Andrew Cuomo hit the same nail. He initially defended himself against the accusation of Islamophobia, attributing his reaction to Sid Rosenberg’s statement to humor. He then accused Zohran Mamdani of being the one dividing New Yorkers. The accusation he made by mentioning that his rival had lived the first seven years of his life in Uganda.

“He just doesn’t understand New York culture, New York values, what September 11 meant,” the man who resigned as governor of New York after being accused of sexual harassment by 13 women said on Fox News.

Andrew Cuomo is trying to stock up on votes from older, moderate voters, including Jews, where young people are unfavorable to him. And he is counting on the support of billionaires, including the former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, who finance anti-Mamdani ads with millions of dollars.

However, he did not convince Al Sharpton, pillar of the black community of Harlem. The pastor and activist denounced on Saturday “the abhorrent Islamophobia that has been used in this campaign”.

He then spoke to an enthusiastic crowd gathered at his organization’s headquarters, where Zohran Mamdani began the day. Also there was Elouise Patterson, a 60-year-old lawyer, who illustrated an intergenerational phenomenon that could help Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday.

“My youngest son, who is in his second year of college, told me about Mamdani in March or April,” she said. He told me he was exciting, interesting, progressive, and that I should be interested in him. That’s what I did. I think we must have faith in young people. »