As the sun set in New York City on Friday night, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani began walking. He started in Inwood Hill Park, at the very top of Manhattan, and didn’t stop until he saw the bright blue lights of the Staten Island Ferry all the way in Battery Park. For seven hours, he strode in running shoes down the streets of Manhattan. Almost every step of the way, Mamdani was greeted by gasps, coos, and selfie requests.
“I voted for you!” a man with a Spanish accent said, grinning as a waving Mamdani, 33, passed him in Washington Heights, a neighborhood in northern Manhattan.
At about 8 p.m., the Democratic Socialist candidate joined former MSNBC host Joy Reid’s new streaming show from his smartphone. He downed a folded slice of pizza to help keep going. By Times Square, Mamdani had amassed a crowd of about 40 supporters. A young man in the East Village shouted: “That’s my guy!”
Whatever you think of Mamdani’s politics, the following that he attracted while walking from one end of Manhattan to the other showed the stunningly strong campaign that he has run, with huge help from volunteers. Those volunteers are a prime reason why the Democratic primary has narrowed to a two-person race between Mamdani and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. A poll released Monday showed Mamdani prevailing over Cuomo in the eighth round of ranked-choice voting. Mamdani’s support has surged by more than 30 percentage points during the past five months, while Cuomo’s has basically been stuck.