Chicago – November 03, 2025
Giovanni Lanzo is “still tossed up” about the mayor’s race – that’s Brooklyn for undecided. But he understands the stakes.
“The whole world watches what New York does,” Lanzo said. “Let’s do it right.”
New York is America’s largest and most diverse city, and a global financial and cultural powerhouse. So picking a new mayor is always a big deal.
But it is even bigger this time. Because of the moment and the issues front and center right now in American politics; because of the candidates; and because of the high interest in the race shown by New York real estate developer turned President Donald Trump.
It’s a big deal no matter who wins. A historic deal if the frontrunner does.
Zohran Mamdani is just 34. An immigrant. A Muslim. A democratic socialist. A champion of multiculturalism. In many ways, Mamdani is the anti-Trump.
Yet they share a few traits. Mamdani, like Trump, uses social media as a megaphone to communicate and motivate. Mamdani, like Trump, is polarizing.
“I just think the country is going really badly down the toilet,” said Alice Henty, a filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn. “Zohran is like the glimmer of hope for me and for everyone I know.”
Sid Stewart lives in Queens. He is 60, Black, a Trump supporter troubled that Mamdani is a democratic socialist. More so that he is Muslim.
“America has got to go a certain way,” Stewart said. “This is a Judeo-Christian nation and people have to understand that. And I think we need to be more vocal about that. You can’t just let everybody into your country and let the — turn it into this or that.”
Stewart plans to vote for Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani but is running now as an independent.
Also on the ballot: Republican Curtis Sliwa, a familiar face across the city for more than four decades in his role as the founder and CEO of the Guardian Angels community anti-crime organization.
Yes, New York is an overwhelmingly Democratic city. But its politics are still complicated and shifting. Its nearly 8.5 million people are spread across five distinct boroughs.
