What the Mamdani win means for the Democratic Party – San Bernardino Sun

My year of living in New York City — just out of grad school, which apparently qualified me to be a lowly fact checker for manuscripts at Rolling Stone Press — was not long enough to register to vote there, much less get involved in  mysterious Manhattan politics.

It was hard enough for a California kid to stay warm and then stay cool, much less understand the descendants of Tammany Hall.

This was the early 1980s, not a glamorous time in Gotham. Everything was still dirty. The subway cars were entirely covered in graffiti. There were zero international men of mystery living in super-skinny billionaires-only skyscrapers on Central Park South. Living with my sister at 93rd and Riverside — now a fancy doorman building — walking the block from your Broadway bus, let’s just say it was important to pick which block if you were walking after dark.

Ed Koch was mayor. He’d stand on street corners and squawk, “How’m I doin’?” A Democrat, he described himself as a “liberal with sanity.” Don’t live there anymore, but unlike some Angelenos, I love New York, and mildly follow its politics. Among recent mayors, Rudy was self-centered but right enough about broken windows; Bloomberg a cool CEO type; Bill de Blasio a good guy who got in over his head; incumbent Eric Adams a cop turned crook who was able to sell himself as a practical insider and now has to cut deals with Trump to purge his legal troubles.

I was surprised as everyone else, including apparently the candidate himself, to see Zohran Mamdani come out on top in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York — which, unless the common wisdom becomes uncommon, means he’s the next mayor of the nation’s biggest city.

He’s 33. He was born in Kampala. He’s Muslim. He’s socialist.

Did I mention he was born in 1991? He met his wife on Hinge.

I texted to ask my sister who she voted for. The city is trying this new ranked-voting system, and it’s complicated. “I ranked Mamdani 4th, after Adrienne Adams, Stringer and Lander. My 5th was Ramos but only because at that moment I didn’t realize I could pick fewer than 5. … I just couldn’t bring myself to give Cuomo a vote. Danny O’Donnell worked with Mamdani in the State Assembly and thinks he’s a ‘decent guy.’ From Danny that’s high praise.”

Explainers: Adrienne “Don’t Call Me Eric” Adams is the super-accomplished, normie NYC Council speaker. Scott Stringer wants to extend the school day to 4:30 p.m., and what parent doesn’t agree? City Controller Brad Lander, who wants free child care for 3-year-olds, was popped by ICE for asking questions about warrants. Jessica Ramos, a state senator, ended up endorsing Cuomo because “he could stand up to Trump.” And Cuomo? Jeez, what scum. “Knows the system”? Yeah, so did underage-sexter Anthony Weiner, whose comeback bid for NYC council also failed. Cuomo, never forget, tried to subpoena the gynecological records of the women he sexually harassed as governor. He can now drive off into the sunset in his Dodge Charger.