Zohran Mamdani and community organising

This article was originally published by The News Minute. Access the full article here.

Written by: Sapna Saleem 

On January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani—a socialist, a Muslim, and an immigrant—took office as the elected Mayor of New York City, home to the largest number of billionaires in the world. And within 8 days announced a plan to fulfill one of his major campaign promises—universal childcare—demonstrating that change does not have to be slow. 

Zohran Mamdani, whose parents both have roots from India, carried all the wrong identity markers, a campaign agenda that directly threatened billionaires in the city of billionaires, and faced open hostility from President Trump. To top it all off, he never minced words in expressing his support for Palestinian rights and opposing the genocide committed by Israel, in a city that has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. 

For the 34-year-old former Assemblyman (the equivalent of an MLA)—who was virtually unknown a year ago—to win over the city, it would take much more than a creative Instagram page.

Sonya Soni, a US-born Indian American who spent much of her summer holidays with family in Delhi and Punjab, was one of the 1,04,000 volunteers for the ‘Zohran 4 NYC’ campaign. Most of 2025, Sonya spent her time after work walking the streets of New York City, climbing endless flights of stairs in old, elevator-less apartment buildings, knocking on doors, and organising ‘Chai and Chats’ at street corners. Sonya and ordinary New Yorkers with no experience in formal politics were invited to do a simple, yet uncomfortable act—speak with their neighbours about the future of their city.

While 26 US billionaires, including those associated with Airbnb, Estée Lauder, and Netflix, spent over $40 million funding opposition campaigns and media outlets pushing anti-Mamdani messaging, volunteers like Sonya were knocking on doors, engaging New Yorkers in real conversations about who he was and what he stood for.

“For the first time, I truly felt a sense of belonging and longing for this city—strangers were being deeply curious about each other. And this was happening in the most capitalistic city in the world!” Sonya said about her canvassing experience.