Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani introduced his anti-Trump tour to Staten Island on Wednesday, the place he stated “despite the caricatures” of the island, he was assured he might make inroads due to his concentrate on affordability and immigration.
Mamdani gained a number of election precincts within the borough within the June major, however his extra average opponent Andrew Cuomo carried the island. His look Wednesday drew a crowd of vocal opponents.
“I know that though there are Staten Islanders who are passionate in their support for Donald Trump, there are some of those who voted for both of us,” Mamdani stated, talking from the yard of a Stapleton Turkish restaurant.
“I do not blame them, because what they may have heard is a throughline in just how suffocating this cost of living crisis is.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has run on an affordability platform, promising free buses, a lease freeze for stabilized models and free baby care.
On Wednesday, he additionally slammed President Trump’s mass deportation agenda, declaring that one in 4 Staten Islanders have been born exterior the nation.
“We will not be accomplices in the attempt to fulfill Donald Trump’s promise to create the largest deportation machine this country has ever seen,” Mamdani stated.
The Meeting member is dealing with off towards Cuomo, Mayor Adams, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and impartial Jim Walden within the November normal election.
Mamdani was launched on Wednesday by officers from a spread of political backgrounds, together with immigration advocates, former Council members Debi Rose and Sal Albanese and native district leaders Ali Ansari and Jasmine Robinson, who endorsed Cuomo within the major.
“We know that progressive ideas have a home here, just like so many others,” Mamdani stated.
Protesters carrying Trump gear and carrying indicators in assist of Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa are pictured exterior a marketing campaign cease by Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on Staten Island Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Josephine Stratman / New York Each day Information)
Exterior the occasion, protesters carrying Trump gear and carrying indicators in assist of Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa jeered at Mamdani, calling him a “communist” and yelling hateful epithets.
Mamdani stated that language “saddens” him.
“I will not let it dissuade me from continuing to come to Staten Island, from continuing to speak to New Yorkers, no matter where they live, no matter what politics they have,” he stated.
On Tuesday, the candidate appeared in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, the place audio system inspired institution Democrats like Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer and Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries to get behind Mamdani. Regardless of successful over some institutional assist since his major victory, Mamdani has not but garnered the assist of among the metropolis’s Democratic heavy-hitters.
“Zohran has listened to what the people need, what they want, and has developed a plan to make that happen,” former Council member Rose stated on Wednesday. “And so I’m here today to say to you that we should not be afraid as a party to endorse and embrace Zohran Mamdani.”
Initially Printed: August 13, 2025 at 5:09 PM EDT
