Zohran Mamdani describes 'isolation' and 'loneliness' after anti-Muslim attacks

New York: For months, members of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's team had worked on plans to use the holy month of Ramadan to showcase how New York City's Muslims and its first Muslim mayor practice their faith.

One of the centerpieces was to be a gathering at the Museum of the City of New York, where Mamdani held an iftar dinner Thursday to break his fast with hundreds of Muslim city workers.

But at the onset of the dinner, the mayor used his platform to respond to Islamophobic comments from local and national figures, highlighting another aspect of his faith that has long been a part of life for many of the city's Muslims.

"I have known these experiences as a young man, as a candidate for office, as the mayor of New York City," Mamdani said. "And when I hear such hatred and disdain unchecked in its rancor, I feel an isolation and a loneliness that I know that many of you have felt as well."

On Wednesday, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, commented on social platform X that a photo of the mayor at an iftar dinner was "stomach churning." The next day, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., responded to side-by-side images of that dinner and the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 terror attacks by writing, "The enemy is inside the gates." And Vickie Paladino, a Queens-based City Council member, has shared posts on social media associating the mayor with Islamic terrorism.

Mamdani addressed each of those instances in forceful terms and called out each politician by name. He said their comments were dehumanizing and threatened the safety of the city's Muslim citizens. He also referred to a 12-year-old girl wearing a hijab who was hospitalized last month after a woman punched her in the face in Brooklyn.

"For many in this museum tonight and those outside of it, there is a hardship that extends beyond this month, simply by belonging to our faith in this city that is our home," the mayor said to the city workers. "For nearly as long as there has been a New York City, there have been Muslim New Yorkers. And yet for nearly just as long, those with power and platform have sought to dehumanize us."

The speech was reminiscent of one he delivered in the final weeks of his mayoral campaign, when he held a news conference in front of a Bronx mosque to condemn Islamophobic comments from his opponents and their allies. Earlier this month, when a conservative talk radio host described him as a "jihadist" and "Radical Islamic cockroach" in a post on X, the mayor denounced the hateful language, then argued that attacks on Muslim New Yorkers are often seen as more permissible.

Against the backdrop of Ramadan, however, the attacks seem to have intensified, with the far right responding with vitriol to the visual image of Mamdani practicing his faith.

In a statement, Paladino's lawyer, Jim Walden, said that she "supports the mayor's right to free speech, as he should respect her right to warn of the dangers of violent jihadists, which was the intention of her tweets. She supports people from all religions living in peace together."

A spokesperson for Tuberville declined to comment beyond the senator's posts, and a representative for Gill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, white supremacist activist Jake Lang held a "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" demonstration in front of Gracie Mansion, the official mayor's residence where Mamdani lives with his wife. Counterprotesters outnumbered Lang's supporters, taunting them and throwing objects around. And then a man lit and threw a homemade bomb into the street; the device failed to detonate, and no one was injured.

Police said the attempted terrorist act was inspired by the Islamic State group. The mayor called it "a heinous act of terrorism" in a four-sentence written statement delivered Monday, two days later.

How Mamdani has handled the aftermath of the attack, which has led to two arrests, has been closely watched, both because of his relative inexperience in public office and his stature as one of the country's most high-profile Muslims.

"I think there's a very strong push to make Mamdani either lose his cool or not be able to rule New York City or govern New York City because of the distractions from the kind of attacks that he's going to be dealing with," said Moustafa Bayoumi, a professor of literature at Brooklyn College who has written extensively about Islamophobia in New York. "And I don't think he's doing that, and I don't think anybody around him is doing that."

For the Muslim leaders present at Thursday's iftar, the mayor's reflection was not only a chance to see a fellow Muslim respond to attacks they could relate to, but also a possible catalyst for other New York leaders to follow his lead.

"It gives the rest of us a lot of courage to speak out, but also to be able to encourage our constituents," said council member Shahana Hanif, who attended the iftar Thursday.