Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani delivered a fiery victory speech late Tuesday, promising to deliver on his progressive agenda and declaring his election a historic mandate for change.
Mamdani, 34, who will become New York City’s first socialist, first Muslim, and first mayor of South Asian descent, claimed victory at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theatre, The New York Post
The Uganda-born lawmaker said his win belonged to all immigrant New Yorkers and condemned Islamophobic attacks on his campaign.
“As Eugene Debs once said, I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity,” Mamdani said, quoting the early 20th-century socialist presidential candidate.
He also invoked the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, saying, “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new.”
Raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Mamdani thanked working-class New Yorkers who powered his campaign.
“Fingers bruised from lifting boxes on the warehouse floor, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars, knuckles scarred with kitchen burns — these are not hands that have been allowed to hold power,” he said. “And yet, over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater. Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it.”
Mamdani’s remarks mixed gratitude with defiance, targeting President Trump and former Governor Andrew Cuomo while promising sweeping reforms.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics,” Mamdani said. “We won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”
Mamdani vowed to pursue his campaign proposals, including freezing rent for two million residents in regulated apartments, creating free citywide bus service, providing universal child care, and launching a Department of Community Safety to handle mental health calls instead of the NYPD.
He said the policies would help working-class and marginalized New Yorkers struggling with the cost of living.
“This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve rather than a list of excuses for we are too timid to achieve,” he said.
“In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,” Mamdani added.
He declared that his victory marked the end of an era dominated by establishment figures.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said to cheers. “I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”
Citing former Governor Mario Cuomo’s famous line, Mamdani said, “You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.”
“When we enter City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high. We will meet them,” he said.
Mamdani closed by promising tangible results for ordinary New Yorkers.
“New York, this power, it’s yours,” he said. “This city belongs to you.”
President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration would investigate billionaire George Soros and members of his family for possible racketeering charges, escalating long-running accusations that Soros bankrolls protests and unrest across the United States.
“We’re going to look into Soros,” Trump told Fox & Friends. “Because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people.”RICO — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — is a federal law typically used to prosecute organized crime, targeting individuals who participate in ongoing criminal enterprises.
“Because this is more than like protests,” Trump continued. “This is real agitation. This is riots on the street. And we’re going to look into it.” He alleged that protesters “get paid for their profession from Soros and other people.”
The remarks mark the strongest public signal yet that Trump intends to bring the weight of federal law enforcement against Soros, a longtime Democratic donor and frequent target of conservatives who accuse him of quietly funding left-wing causes.
Trump previously floated the idea of such charges on Truth Social, writing:
“George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America. We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE. Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you!”
The Open Society Foundations, Soros’ philanthropic network, has denied the allegations. In an August statement, the group said it does “not support or fund violent protests,” calling threats of prosecution “outrageous.”
Trump tied the proposed investigation to the aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week at Utah Valley University, calling the killing “political violence at its worst.” Kirk, 31, was shot during a campus speaking event before a crowd of thousands.
“My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity, and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it,” Trump said in a video statement Wednesday.
The president has long criticized what he calls a “professional protest movement” funded by wealthy left-wing donors. During his first term, Trump repeatedly clashed with hard left advocacy groups he accused of supporting unrest in major cities. His Justice Department occasionally examined protest organizations but rarely pursued cases under racketeering statutes.
RICO is generally used to prosecute organized crime syndicates, gangs, and corrupt businesses. To secure a conviction, prosecutors must demonstrate a pattern of criminal activity connected to an enterprise.
Trump allies have argued that if violent actors are being supported by financial networks, RICO may be the appropriate tool to investigate those connections.
The move comes as Trump has increasingly emphasized a law-and-order message heading into the 2026 midterm election cycle, pointing to violent crime in cities and accusing Democratic donors and officials of fueling unrest.
Soros, 94, has been a frequent Republican target for decades, since he has financed soft-on-crime prosecutors, radical advocacy groups, and left-wing ballot initiatives. His son Alex Soros now chairs the Open Society Foundations and has taken on a more visible role in Democratic politics.
The renewed focus on Soros reflects how the White House is moving quickly after Kirk’s assassination to tie the incident into a broader crackdown on what Trump calls “political violence networks.”
Asked about the president’s comments Friday, a Justice Department spokesperson declined to confirm whether any investigation into Soros or his organizations is underway.