Mira Nair's son brings Bollywood flair, Hindi to New York mayoral campaign
Zohran Mamdani, a democratic candidate for New York City's mayoral race, on Wednesday tapped into his family's movie background to attack front-runner Andrew Cuomo and make his case for the June 24 election.
Mamdani, who is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair, shared a video on X, pitting his agenda against that of Cuomo. But there is a twist - the campaign video is in Hindi.
'This election is just 20 days away, and the choice is between me and Andrew Cuomo. This is all that Andrew Cuomo has to offer,' Mamdani says in Hindi before the video cuts to a scene of Amitabh Bachchan's 1975 hit Deewar.
Instead of Shashi Kapoor saying "mere pass maa hai" to the question 'what do you have?', the video cuts to Zohran Mamdani, who says,' I have the people.'
Mamdani, who could become the first New York mayor of South Asian descent, said that it wasn't about who he's become but about what he would do.
'I'm going to make our city affordable. New Yorkers are struggling to afford food, clothing, and shelter. I'm fighting to change that. Freeze rent, free buses, universal childcare, and cheaper groceries,' he says in Hindi.
Mamdani, a New York state representative, is one of the leading candidates in the Democratic party for the mayoral race, along with Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor. Incumbent mayor Eric Adams is contesting the polls on an independent ballot.
A majority of New Yorkers still say the biggest US city needs safer streets and better housing to make it more livable, according to a survey cited by Bloomberg.
Just one in three New Yorkers, or 34 percent, rate the city's quality of life as excellent or good, according to the latest resident survey from the Citizens Budget Commission. That's up slightly from 30 percent in 2023's survey but less than the 51 percent in 2017 who gave it high marks.
According to the report by the nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, affordability, crime and safety, housing, and taxes are the top issues in deciding whether to remain in New York City or leave.
About 55 percent of those surveyed said they planned to stay in the city for the next five years. While that's up from 50 percent in 2023, it's still less than 58 percent of residents in 2017 who planned to remain in the city.
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