On New York City's Future.
Dispatch from New York City.
We woke this morning to a city with a new mayor-elect. At dawn I went for a run and saw the glowing orange sunlight streaming over the building roofs on Wilson Avenue. As I ran laps around Maria Hernandez Park I saw supportive messages written in chalk on the ground, like you’d see on the streets during a marathon, predicting the race’s victor: Zohran 4 NYC; Moms for Mamdani; Vote for Zohran.
Normally I’m reluctant to write on political issues, especially national issues, but I feel confident that I’m informed enough on the issues affecting our city to write my thoughts on this year’s mayoral election.
Yesterday’s historic victory by Zohran Mamdani marks a changing point for the City of New York. Only time will tell, though, if the change is positive, or negative, and whether Mr. Mamdani was responsible for that change. If Mamdani is willing to succeed, he needs the support of Governor Hochul. He needs the support of progressive democratic Senators Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Most of all, he needs the help and support of every single New Yorker that wants a safe, prosperous yet affordable city for all.
Over the last four years, I’ve interviewed dozens of New Yorkers from across the five boroughs for an oral history initiative with the NYC Department of Records and Information Services. Nearly every New Yorker I interviewed, whether they have lived here for one year or a lifetime, spoke about the same core issues they face: affordability, community, housing, safety, and transportation. Mr. Mamdani formed his campaign on these issues, the same voiced by the New Yorkers I interviewed.
Perhaps like most New Yorkers, I wasn’t aware of Mr. Mamdani’s mayoral bid prior to the Democratic primary this past June. I wasn’t aware of the grassroots movement he was building or his successful social media campaign. In the weeks leading up to the primary I noticed ‘Zohran’ signs in the windows of local homes and businesses. I was reluctant to see a candidate receiving this kind of support as something more than a Democratic illusion. But when I learned about Mr. Mamdani I became hopeful.
He won the primary by a landslide but Mr. Mamdani’s battle had just begun. President Trump threatened to remove federal funding for the New York City area, calling Mr Mamdani a “communist”. In short, Trump to City: Drop Dead.1 The “forces of Old and Evil”, as Hunter S. Thompson said, were against Mamdani which meant they were, are, and will be against us New Yorkers, too.2
On the night of the first mayoral debate, in the third-floor walkup apartment where I live with my partner and our cat we were without hot water for the third time that month and no running water from the shower. Our landlord texted late in the day that he was repairing the hot water heater and wouldn’t be finished until the following day. I doused myself with a bucket of cold water in lieu of a shower. As we settled in to watch the debate, I wished to help elect a mayor who would hear New Yorker’s voices and work hard to do their very best on our behalf.
In talking with friends and family in New York since the primary, I heard concerns about Mamdani’s legitimacy and how Mr. Mamdani’s politics differed from their own. I believe voting can be very simple: is a candidate’s message positive or negative? No candidate is perfect and one person cannot fix all the major issues affecting our city in only four years. If Mr. Mamdani can deliver on just one of the fixes he promised, and I’m hopeful he can, then we made the right choice.
Let’s make it happen, New York City.
Keith Walpole
November 5, 2025
Brooklyn, N.Y.
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In 1975 New York City was nearly bankrupt. President Ford said he would veto a federal bailout. The NY Daily News ran the headline “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.”
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson on the 1960’s counter-culture movement: “There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning…And that, I think was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave…”