Zohran Mamdani on his win, what comes next | Full Interview
More on Zohran Mamdani and the race for NYC mayor on "Up Close with Bill Ritter" on Sunday at 11 a.m. on Channel 7
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Fresh off claiming victory in the Democratic mayoral primary, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani sat down for a one-on-one conversation with Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old self-described Democratic Socialist from Queens declared victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who conceded Tuesday night.
Mamdani went from being a relatively unknown state lawmaker to the presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor in just a matter of months.
WATCH Bill Ritter's full, exclusive interview with Zohran Mamdani above
Now he faces the prospect of an equally challenging task: Defeating Mayor Eric Adams and a Republican opponent - and maybe even Cuomo again - in the general election, while fending off critics who argue he is too far to the left.
Ritter asked Mamdani about facing Mayor Eric Adams in November.
"When I started this race, I thought I was running against Eric Adams. And in many ways, I was prepared for it," he said. "He has exacerbated a cost-of-living crisis. He raised the rent on more than 2 million New Yorkers by 9%. He increased water bills to the highest they've been in 13 years, and he sided with Con Edison when they wanted to increase gas and electric bills by $65 a month. This is someone who has put his thumb on the scale against working, middle-class New Yorkers. We need someone who will actually use every tool to provide relief to those same New Yorkers."
Mamdani was also critical of Adams' alliance with President Donald Trump.
"We've been told time and again that through his collaboration, he could protect our city. But we do not see that protection. We've seen $80 million taken out of a city bank account. We've seen New Yorkers being disappeared and detained, whether in their apartment building, lobby or when they're going for a regular check-in at Federal Plaza," Mamdani said.
Ultimately, Mamdani said he's "wedded to the future of this city."
"I will not wither and I will not relent," he said. "I am committed as I was on that first day, to a city for every New Yorker, where all of us belong, where all of us can afford."
More Q&A from the Zohran Mamdani interview
How Mamdani's wife and parents reacted on primary night
They were just overjoyed and overcome. You know, there were many of us that had prepared for a long night of analysis, of tabulations, of calculations. And ultimately, the night was quite short as it came to the result itself. Yeah. And that began with the phone call that I received from Governor Cuomo, where he spoke to me about conceding this nomination.
Define Democratic Socialism
I think of Dr. King, who decades ago said, "Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism." There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country. And it gets to the heart of the matter, which is inequality, and my belief that every New Yorker should have what they need to live a dignified life.
It shouldn't be something that they can be priced out of. And that's why, at the heart of our campaign is this focus on freezing the rent for more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants, making the slowest buses in the country fast.
Do you have the experience to be mayor of NYC?
A campaign gives a glimpse of how one would run the city. And the campaign that I've run has been the most competent and innovative of any in this cycle. It's one where we have gone from two full-time staff to managing more than 50,000 people, where we raised the $8 million that we can spend in this race at record-breaking pace.
And we've shown that our commitment is to competence. It's to outcomes. It's to excellence. And ultimately, any leader is defined by the team that they put together. And I'm lucky that the team that I have put together in this campaign is one of the best and the brightest. And ultimately, that's what I would bring to City Hall.
Bill Ritter: And I understand why you're saying that. But, that's a very different thing - running an election campaign. And it's not even the final campaign. Different than running a city.
Mamdani: It is different. I think there is nothing that can truly prepare you for running the city of New York. What can prepare you, however, are moments that you have to meet time and time again, ones that increase in scale and challenge. And one of the most meaningful things to me over the course of this race has been meetings that I've had with deputy mayors and commissioners from a wide variety of mayoral administrations in understanding just what this team could look like.
On Doing Battle with President Trump
Well, I am very confident of being able to do so because I stand here before you today, having done battle over many, many months against someone that I was told was impossible to beat. And here we are. And ultimately, what Donald Trump needs is a leader in New York City that has the same donors as him, which is why there's so much reporting over the fact that there was a good relationship between him and Andrew Cuomo.
Ultimately, what I present is someone who is funded by more than 20,000 people who have given me an average donation of around $80.
Do you want to defund the police?
No, I'm very clearly not defunding the police. I'm sustaining the headcount of officers. And I'm looking to actually address the crisis within the NYPD. We're seeing 200 officers leave the department every month. About a quarter are considering departure, and a leading cause is forced overtime. And one of the reasons for that forced overtime is you're asking officers to work doubles and triples, and they're doing that because you're asking them to do every job.
Do you support the concept of Israel as a Jewish state?
I've said time and again that I support Israel's right to exist as a state with equal rights for all, and ultimately, my focus is on the five boroughs of the city. And I know, however, that New Yorkers' hopes and dreams and fears extend beyond these five boroughs. And while I have made very clear my belief in universal human rights and my commitments to that end, I've also made clear a commitment that I am looking to lead every New Yorker, not just those that agree with me, not just those that voted for me.
And leadership means having the difficult conversations. It means extending yourself to understand those disagreements and also the complexities of that. And that is something that I look forward to living up to each and every day.
Bill Ritter: 1 in 10 New Yorkers is Jewish. Many have concerns about your stance. You have a second. You can talk to them right now. What do you have to say to that?
Mamdani: Anti-Semitism is a real issue in this city and in this country, and there's no place for it. And I know it in the conversations I've had, even with friends who have told me time and again about how that has worn on them. There was a Jewish man in Williamsburg just recently who told me how he locks the very door he used to keep unlocked for years.
A friend of mine who, after the horrific war crime of October 7th, told me how he went for Shabbat services at his synagogue. And he was sitting when he heard the door open behind him and a chill went up his spine. As he turned around, not knowing who was coming in. What did they mean for him? And ultimately, what we need is a city and an administration that protects Jewish New Yorkers and protects every New Yorker.
The future of New York City
I am wedded to the future of the city. This is a city that I love, a city that I grew up in, and a city that I want to grow old in like each and every other New Yorker. And what concerns me is that President Trump interest in our city often times is one to make an example of us, to attack the very fabric of what makes so many of us to be proud as New Yorkers.
And I am going to be the mayor who will stand up for New Yorkers, no matter whether it's because Trump is attacking them on the basis of their documentation, their sexual orientation, or their politics.
Watch the full interview above, and again on "Up Close with Bill Ritter" on Sunday at 11 a.m. on Channel 7 and wherever you stream ABC7 New York.
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