Zohran Mamdani kicks off first day as New York mayor-elect with chai, momos, and AOC for company

In his victory speech, he quoted Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny,” a moment that resonated with the Indian diaspora. (image credit: @ZohranKMamdani - X)

On his first full day as New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Kwame Mamdani kept things close to home, and heritage. Between interviews and transition meetings, the 34-year-old stopped by Laliguras Bistro, an Indian-Nepalese restaurant in Jackson Heights, for lunch with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of his earliest political allies.

“A busy first day as your Mayor-elect: early morning interviews, transition announcements and meetings,” Mamdani wrote on X. “More to say on all of it tomorrow. But a highlight was lunch with my Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Laliguras Bistro in Jackson Heights.”

A busy first day as your Mayor-elect: early morning interviews, transition announcements and meetings. More to say on all of it tomorrow. But a highlight was lunch with my Congresswoman @AOC at Laliguras Bistro in Jackson Heights. pic.twitter.com/vKWpNyrI09

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 6, 2025

In a photo shared from the bistro, Ocasio-Cortez is seen enjoying tea and momos, alongside aloo-dum, paneer tikka, and bao, a multicultural spread that mirrors Mamdani’s own identity.

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For Mamdani, the meal was more than a casual lunch. It was an understated nod to his South Asian and immigrant heritage, and to the community that powered his grassroots campaign. Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, was among the few national Democrats to endorse him early.

The choice of Jackson Heights, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in America and home to a large South Asian diaspora, carried its own quiet symbolism. It’s where Mamdani has long campaigned, spoken with taxi drivers at LaGuardia, and championed affordability as a defining political cause.

Mamdani’s victory has rewritten several records at once. He is New York City’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, and at 34, its youngest in a century. His campaign, centered on free transit, rent freezes, and universal childcare, tapped into the economic anxiety of renters and working-class voters.

But it also stood out for how he embraced identity rather than sidestepped it. In his victory speech, he quoted Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny,” a moment that resonated with the Indian diaspora. As he walked off the stage, the speakers played “Dhoom Machale”, a Bollywood anthem, a departure from the usual Sinatra or Jay-Z anthems that close New York rallies.

“I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older, I am Muslim, I am a democratic socialist, and I refuse to apologise for any of this,” he told supporters in Brooklyn.

Born in Uganda to Mahmood Mamdani, a scholar, and Mira Nair, the acclaimed filmmaker, Mamdani embodies what one analyst called “a global identity grounded in local politics.”