Zohran Mamdani makes history to become New York City's first Muslim mayor

In a race watched around the world, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist and assemblyman from Queens, New York, won the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday to become its youngest leader in at least a century. 

Originally seen as an outsider candidate before his Democratic primary win in June made him the frontrunner, Mamdani ran an avowedly left-wing campaign.

He promised rent control and free bus travel - a platform funded by a proposed increase in taxes on the wealthiest residents of New York City.

Mamdani was also unapologetically pro-Palestinian throughout his campaign in a city that was convulsed by protests against Israel's war on Gaza. They were subsequently forcefully shut down by the New York Police Department and pressure on universities from the Trump administration.

Data shows Mamdani's stance on Israel and Palestine actually helped him seal the primary win, despite smears of antisemitism for his views on the war, which is now widely recognised as a genocide.

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