Latest news with #Zohran
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘Phone jammers, masked guards': Zohran Mamdani's lavish wedding in spotlight; three-day bash held under tight security
Image courtesy: AFP Zohran Mamdani , an Indian-origin mayoral candidate in New York, recently celebrated his wedding to artist and animator Rama Duwaji with a lavish three-day event at his family's expansive estate in Uganda. The festivities, held in the upscale Buziga Hill neighborhood near Kampala, were shrouded in secrecy and featured fortress-like security measures, including multiple security gates, armed guards in masks, and a phone-jamming device, as reported by the New York Post. Mamdani, 33, who was born in Uganda, eloped with 27-year-old Duwaji in February. He moved to New York at the age of seven and became a US citizen in 2018. The couple, who met on the dating app Hinge, now reside in a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria. Zohran's father, Mahmood Mamdani, owns the property in one of Uganda's wealthiest areas, home to prominent figures like billionaire businessman Godfrey Kirumira. Inside the lavish wedding party The Mamdani estate was transformed into a vibrant party venue for the occasion, with music and Christmas lights adorning the garden's tree canopy. According to the report, upscale buses and luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes and a Range Rover, were seen arriving at the compound. The estate, situated on two acres of lush grounds with a sweeping view of Lake Victoria, is in a neighborhood where homes can easily sell for over $1 million. Zohran's affluent parents, Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, also divide their time between this Ugandan property, New York, and New Delhi. Beefed-up security in place "Outside the Mamdani house were more than 20 special forces command unit guards, some in masks, and there was a phone-jamming system set up—all for the strictly invite-only Mamdani event... One gate had around nine guards stationed at it,' the report quoted a source as saying. The party reportedly concluded around midnight, with Mamdani addressing his guests later in the evening. After the festivities ended on Friday, military-style tents were dismantled, and security officers, believed to be Mamdani's personal guards, took over at the gates.
CBC
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Zohran Mamdani vs. the Democratic establishment
Zohran Mamdani's win in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York is one of the most stunning upsets in the city's political history. The 33 year old assemblyman led a campaign focused on affordability, with a platform that included a rent freeze, free public transportation and free child care. Zohran's win garnered international attention. It also marked the introduction of the first star the Democratic party has produced in many years, appealing to voters that the party has struggled to retain. But since then, political forces - including many from within his own party - have been trying to stop his rise. Why is that? And why is the Democratic Party establishment in particular, hesitating to back him? Errol Louis is a reporter with New York Magazine and a local anchor in New York City. Louis has written a number of pieces about Mamdani, and joins the show to talk about his rapid ascent to stardom, and the identity crisis at the heart of the Democratic Party.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
What should Jewish New Yorkers make of Zohran Mamdani?
While headlines would have you believe otherwise, Jewish New Yorkers supported Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary in droves. We showed up because our communities want to live and thrive alongside our neighbors in an affordable city where no one is left behind, and because we want a mayor who believes in Palestinian human rights. The organization I work for, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, endorsed Zohran the same day he launched his candidacy. Our volunteers knocked on more than 80,000 doors, made hundreds of thousands of calls, and raised tens of thousands in grassroots dollars. While Zohran ran a unifying campaign, Andrew Cuomo used Islamophobic fearmongering, false accusations of antisemitism and unwavering support for Israel's crimes in an attempt to divide our communities. It failed spectacularly. The Jewish community's opinion about Israel and US policy is diverse and shifting rapidly. A poll from last November showed 61% of Jews supported halting US weapons to Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Jews in the US are clear: the Israeli government is committing genocide and apartheid, and our government must stop funding it. Many Jewish New Yorkers alongside our neighbors are desperate for elected representatives brave enough to say the truth, and it is refreshing to see a politician like Zohran with consistent values, whose progressive politics do not stop at our city's borders. During a primary debate, every candidate was asked where they would first travel as mayor. Zohran replied that he would stay put in New York. When moderators bafflingly began interrogating him on visiting Israel, he replied that he need not travel abroad to understand Jewish New Yorkers. He would meet us in synagogues, on the subways and wherever else we are in the city. For many Jews watching, we felt seen in our lives, in our diversity, and in our concerns right where we live. And we felt relief to hear a candidate refuse to position New York Jews as a proxy for a government committing genocide. The Zohran campaign represents a broad coalition committed to justice and dignity. Progressive Jews are proudly part of this coalition and will fight alongside our neighbors for a New York for all. Beth Miller is the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action Elections are about choices. I didn't support Zohran Mamdani in the NYC democratic primary; I voted for Brad Lander for mayor. But now that Mamdani won, I am supporting him, despite some of his positions, particularly on Israel. I hope that he will understand that concerns like mine are real. Israel is more than a foreign policy issue for many New Yorkers. Mamdani refuses to say that the chant 'globalize the intifada' is dangerous, though he doesn't use it. But it instills fear in many of us. He also is a staunch supporter of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a movement that insists on cutting off Israeli institutions, which are considered 'complicit', even institutions or individuals who work with Arab citizens of Israel and those who oppose the occupation, as many artists and academics do. Mamdani has an opportunity to detoxify the Israel/Palestine debate among the left and within the Democratic party. He should acknowledge that there are two national struggles – Jewish and Palestinian – in one sliver of land, both deserving lives in dignity and freedom. He can be true to democratic socialist values along with other parties in the world: French, Germans, Scandinavians, all have put political might and money behind ending the occupation and investing in civil society inside Israel and a future Palestine. Of course, freedom of speech must be defended, but language that makes many of us feel unsafe – and has in fact led to violence and even deaths on US soil of innocent Jews, who were murdered simply because they were Jews, must not be excused. I was a founder of the Democratic Socialists of America, resigning decades ago. I know that the democratic socialist movement can be one of liberation for all, and for certain, it can be one that promotes equity and fairness to all New Yorkers. I hope that Mamdani governs as his own person, inspired by the values for equality that propelled him to the mayoralty. The Democratic party is a big tent, but to keep our tent inclusive we must seek dialogue and reconciliation, not incitement, to ensure that Mamdani achieves an extraordinary accomplishment at a time when our democratic underpinnings as a nation are at risk. This is an opportunity to forge a new path forward. Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK, and Israeli publications
The Star
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
What's your sign to keep swiping?
The daters are down. The dating apps feel universally terrible. (Or, as one person noted, the apps are where 'I keep meeting the devil incarnate.') But out of an unlikely font of romantic inspiration – the New York mayor's race – came a sign of hope. 'Zohran shows that if you're pure of heart, Hinge is fine, good even,' one dater posted. 'Maybe I should give it a try again,' another posted. They were responding to the revelation that Zohran Mamdani, 33, the Democratic mayoral nominee, had met his wife, Rama Duwaji, 27, an animator and illustrator, on the dating app Hinge. If they could do it, maybe all was not lost. App dating seems to need a boost these days. Artificial intelligence-powered matchmaking and tightened security are just some of the ways that the dating app companies have tried to shore up engagement, but some users continue to express fatigue over online dating, and Match Group and Bumble have lost billions in market value since 2021. A 2024 Forbes Health Survey reported that 78% of daters said they were feeling mentally and physically exhausted by the services. A 2023 Axios/Generation Lab survey of college and graduate students across the country found that 79% of respondents did not use dating apps. In my conversations with dozens of match seekers in writing about dating for the past 2 1/2 years, people have said that using dating apps can feel like another job, that it's difficult to truly gauge compatibility through a screen and that they prefer meeting people in real life. Still, three in 10 adults are still using the apps, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center study. And people feel like they can't fully give up. So New Yorkers, and politics watchers, and romance fans in general seized on Mamdani's Hinge success as a small, unexpected moment of reassurance that it is possible to actually meet someone, that it's not all endless swiping and disappointment. 'It definitely gives me hope that they found each other on Hinge – I think in general, I feel a little bit disillusioned by the apps,' said Jenny Gorelick, a comedian and writer living in New York City who also volunteered for Mamdani's campaign. In her Substack blog, 'Night Out', she writes about her experience exploring New York's nightlife as a single woman. 'I've only ever, in almost a decade of dating on Hinge, had one boyfriend that came from the app,' she added. 'Out of 220 matches on Hinge, one boyfriend is not amazing odds.' Mamdani seems to know that his story may feel like an outlier, but he encouraged singles not to give up. In an interview with the podcast 'The Bulwark' in June, the subject of dating came up. Cameron Kasky, one of the show's hosts, expressed his dismay over New York City's social scene and his love life. 'In terms of dating, it has been a disaster for me lately – my heart has been broken, I have broken hearts,' he said. He explained how difficult he had found it to make connections in real life, something he pointed as deeply affecting members of Gen Z. How, he asked Mamdani, would he as mayor revitalise the New York social scene? 'I met my wife on Hinge, so there is still hope in those dating apps,' he replied. Jeniea Howard, a 32-year-old content creator who often recaps her app dates online, even the failed ones, agreed that there was hope out there. Her move to Washington, D.C., from New York City two months ago did not stop her from using Hinge, the only dating app she's currently on. It has, in fact, become one of her main reasons to stay on: to meet new people in a new environment. 'I met my ex on Hinge, and we dated for close to three years, and we really only broke up because we weren't as compatible as we originally thought,' she said. 'If I found him and he was great, I'm sure I can find somebody else,' she added. She also worked from home and said that because all of her hobbies weren't the type of things that would attract straight men – pole dancing, boutique fitness classes, drag shows – she realised that she probably wouldn't meet her man in any of those spaces. 'I'm not going to change up my entire life and the things that I love doing, so let me go back on this app and maybe I'll have more luck, because the chances of me running into someone were a little bit slimmer,' she said. Like Howard, Akiera Charles hasn't abandoned the apps. She re-downloaded Hinge on July 1, just two days after she had broken up with a man she had dated for about a month. After venting about her breakup on Instagram, she said, part of getting back on the app was because she wanted to take her mind off her ex. The other reason, though, was that she still had hope for the app after dating someone she had met on Hinge for about a year. 'Since that point of me meeting that person on Hinge and it being successful initially, I still hold out that type of hope, like maybe I am going to find my person on Hinge,' she said. She also has friends who have had success stories on the app, including one woman who is married to, and recently had a baby with, a man she met on Hinge. 'If all of these people around me are meeting their person on Hinge,' she said, 'there has to be something in this app.' – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Politico
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Mamdani expected to clarify his position on ‘globalize the intifada'
Mamdani's campaign did not comment Tuesday on any moves the candidate would make to clarify his position on the phrase. But some Democrats welcomed the step as a significant gesture. 'Many Jews believe it is the bare minimum for Zohran to go beyond distancing himself personally from language like 'globalize the intifada,'' said an aide to a Jewish elected official granted anonymity to speak freely about the sensitive matter. 'He must proactively be clear that language that incites violence against Jews simply isn't acceptable, from anyone, in the city he wants to lead.' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have also referenced Mamdani's defense of 'globalize the intifada' — a rallying cry regarded as a call to violence against Jews for some and a call for Palestinian resistance to others — as they weigh whether to back his campaign for mayor. Mamdani, a Queens state lawmaker who toppled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in last month's primary, was asked about the phrase last month in a podcast by The Bulwark. He said then that he hears it as a call for Palestinian human rights. 'That's not language that I use,' the candidate told NBC News after winning the primary. 'The language that I use — and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city — is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.' Mamdani has also said that the words mean different things to different people. An aide to a New York Democrat said, 'Any walking back of the 'globalize the intifada' nonsense is desperately needed if Mamdani wants to quell the deep and legitimate concern that many in the Jewish community have of him in this moment.' Mamdani's reaction to the phrase has been a central part of many of his ongoing discussions with elected officials and community and business leaders, and several have said publicly and behind closed doors that they hoped he would walk back his statements.
