Spain’s victory in the FIFA World Cup and Andy Burnham’s impending assumption of the British premiership dominate the headlines, but this interview focuses on my conversation with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, exploring topics from football to politics.
It is unusual for an American mayor to be widely recognized abroad, and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, enjoys a notably high profile on the global stage. His prominence stems partly from his international background—he was born in Uganda to a family of distinguished Indian immigrants—and partly from his political activism. As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, an increasingly influential group, and for his vocal support of Palestinian rights, Mamdani has galvanized progressives while unsettling conservatives worldwide. Moreover, his viral videos have resonated with audiences far beyond New York.
During a recent visit to New York, I had the opportunity to interview Mayor Zohran Mamdani, probing his thoughts on the World Cup, wealth taxation, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s impending arrival for the United Nations General Assembly.
Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Mamdani on Burnham, Netanyahu and the red card incident
America’s defining characteristic is its rich tapestry of diasporas, a phenomenon vividly displayed during the World Cup where every squad felt like a homecoming. Which fan groups captured your attention?
It’s especially true for New York City, a metropolis of 8.5 million where more than three million residents were born outside the United States—myself included. Immersing yourself in the right neighborhood reveals the city’s multicultural pulse. If you want to watch Egypt, head to Steinway Street in Astoria; for Colombia, Jackson Heights is the place to be. I also want to highlight the Norwegian supporters, as this was their first World Cup appearance since 1998, and I noticed a surge of rowing imagery wherever I went—a testament to their enthusiastic campaign. As an Arsenal fan, I spent years hating and fearing Erling Haaland, but this summer I found myself cheering for him.
When President Trump intervened with FIFA over the suspension of a U.S. player, I was asked whether such involvement by a national leader is appropriate.
To be honest, the media narrative leading up to the U.S.–Belgium match centered almost entirely on the overturned red card. I thought it was a harsh decision at the time, and the pre‑game coverage revolved around the phone call from the president. In the end, the match left us disappointed, but I appreciated seeing Flo Balogun approach the Belgian coach after the game because it reminded us that players should be the stars, not mere pawns in larger political games.
The center‑left is struggling worldwide; voters feel let down, and some have swung to the right or further left. Does your victory in New York translate overseas?
While New Yorkers pride themselves on exceptionalism, the challenges they confront—housing affordability, child‑care costs, grocery prices, and public transportation—are not unique to our city. Working people across the country and around the globe face similar hardships. For years, especially here, the idea that democratic socialists could offer concrete answers and a vision beyond mere recognition has been dismissed as an intellectual exercise. Over the past six months, however, we have demonstrated that democratic‑socialist principles can deliver real results: repairing over 170,000 potholes, moving toward universal child care, and improving the slowest bus routes in the nation.
What do you think about Andy Burnham?
Seeing any mayor continue to lead in their respective jurisdiction is encouraging. I’m slightly disappointed that he supports Everton, but I respect his loyalty to a struggling club; true commitment shines through in such choices.
Do you think he represents the same left‑wing politics you advocate?
I look forward to seeing how his leadership will serve people across the United Kingdom.
Many on the left are debating how to tax the wealthy without harming growth—capital flight is a concern. You recently instituted a pied‑à‑terre tax. Did any millionaires call you, and how did those calls go?
Whenever we discuss raising taxes on the wealthiest to ensure everyone can afford city life, the fear of capital flight arises. Time and again, however, the alarmist predictions have proven unfounded. Similarly, a proposal to tax secondary homes owned by non‑resident New Yorkers valued over $5 million is hard to oppose when asked on the street; most New Yorkers see it as a reasonable step.
The United States will soon mark its 250th anniversary. As the nation’s ideals are debated, what does being American mean to you?
It is a distinctly American story to be born in Uganda, arrive in New York at age seven, and now serve as its mayor. Such a narrative cannot be repeated in many places worldwide. The story of this country will always be contested, but the struggle to live up to its ideals is constant. It is an imperfect, demanding battle, yet one for which we all bear responsibility.
Readers know you as a critic of Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights. Will New York City divest from Israeli investments, or will you arrest the Israeli prime minister when he visits for the U.N. General Assembly in September, as you have said you would?
I have made clear that I believe the era of politics built on exceptions must end. We have seen many who claim universal ideals hesitate when those ideals apply to Palestinians. The World Cup is a moment of global celebration, yet even then the genocide in Gaza continues. Recent reports indicate the Israeli military killed an Egyptian man who was in Gaza helping set up World Cup watch parties—an act without justification. [Israel has denied it is committing genocide in Gaza. The man recently killed was Palestinian, working for an Egyptian aid group.] I maintain that Netanyahu belongs in The Hague, and that international law is not a suggestion but a standard we must all obey.
Increasingly, both around the world and in our city, more people say they believe in human rights for all, including Palestinians.
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- block at absolute beginning, followed immediately by rewritten content. No extra text. Must clean text: remove promotional lines, “SEE ALSO” links, footer junk. There’s none obviously promotional or footer lines. Also we need to keep all media elements unchanged. There are none visible in provided HTML (just paragraphs). Ensure we keep tags and content, but rewrite headline and body text to natural professional English. Also rewrite headline: original “2,000 volunteers join a painstaking effort to restore massive prehistoric skeleton”. Need unique, fresh, professional. Potential new headline: “Over 2,000 Volunteers Aid in Careful Restoration of Giant Prehistoric Amphibian Skeleton”. Or “2,000 Volunteers Mobilize to Restore Enormous Prehistoric Amphibian Fossil”. Must be unique and fresh. Now rewrite body: need to transform each paragraph into natural professional English, while preserving content, but maybe combine paragraphs? The instruction: “Rewrite the surrounding news story body text into natural, high-quality, professional English.” Keep HTML structure? Likely maintain tags but rewrite content inside them. Also need to keep any media tags (none). Ensure no promotional lines removed (none). So we rewrite each paragraph content. Let’s rewrite each paragraph succinctly but professional. Paragraph 1: “WARSAW, Poland — Volunteers armed with chisels, brushes and protective goggles chip away at rock encasing the bones of a massive prehistoric amphibian in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Centre.” Rewrite: “In Warsaw, volunteers equipped with chisels, brushes, and protective goggles carefully remove rock from the massive prehistoric amphibian bones housed in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of the Copernicus Science Centre.” Paragraph 2: “On the other side of the wall, visitors watch the work unfold on the bones of the nearly six-meter (20-foot)-long skeleton. Children point with excitement while parents contemplate the creature the massive bones once belonged to.” Rewrite: “Through the wall, visitors observe the restoration; children point excitedly, and parents reflect on the ancient creature represented by the enormous skeleton.” Paragraph 3: “The painstaking restoration is part of an unusual public science project. More than 2,000 volunteers are helping Polish scientists restore the skeleton of the Mastodonsaurus, a fearsome aquatic predator from around the dawn of the dinosaur age.” Rewrite: “This meticulous restoration forms part of an innovative public science initiative, with over 2,000 volunteers assisting Polish researchers in reviving the skeleton of Mastodonsaurus, a formidable aquatic predator from the early dinosaur era.” Paragraph 4: “The work is meticulous. Bone must be separated from surrounding rock millimeter by millimeter with a pneumatic chisel, whose needle gently breaks away rock while ultraviolet light reveals where the bone ends and the surrounding rock begins.” Rewrite: “The process is precise: a pneumatic chisel delicately separates bone from rock millimeter by millimeter, and ultraviolet light highlights the boundary between bone and surrounding matrix.” Paragraph 5: “The volunteers are managers, cleaners, tattoo artists — not geologists or paleontologists. They receive training and special protective gear, before they begin two-hour-long chiseling sessions under supervision.” Rewrite: “Volunteers—ranging from managers and cleaners to tattoo artists, rather than geologists or paleontologists—receive training and protective gear before undertaking supervised two‑hour chiseling sessions.” Paragraph 6: “I imagine that those bones were lying underground for 240 million years and I am the first human on earth to touch them,” said Tatyana Kozyk, the coordinator of the volunteer teams. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this experience.” Rewrite: ““I imagine those bones lay underground for 240 million years, and I am among the first humans to touch them,” said coordinator Tatyana Kozyk, who admits she is still processing the experience.” Paragraph 7: “One of the largest amphibians ever to exist, the Mastodonsaurus lived about 240 million years ago during the Middle Triassic, while the earliest dinosaurs were appearing but before they came to dominate Earth. It was an underwater ambush hunter, preying mainly on fish and smaller amphibians.” Rewrite: “Mastodonsaurus, one of the largest known amphibians, inhabited Earth about 240 million years ago in the Middle Triassic, when early dinosaurs were emerging but had not yet become dominant. It was an ambush predator that hunted primarily fish and smaller amphibians underwater.” Paragraph 8: “Scientists believe it could grow to nearly six meters (20 feet) in length. It had a broad, flat head, long jaws and sharp conical teeth, its appearance resembling a crocodile’s, though it belonged to a different branch of the vertebrate family tree.” Rewrite: “Scientists estimate it could reach nearly six meters (20 feet) in length, featuring a broad, flat head, elongated jaws, and sharp conical teeth, giving it a crocodile‑like appearance despite belonging to a distinct branch of the vertebrate lineage.” Paragraph 9: “When the restoration is complete, it will be the largest exhibited in a museum anywhere in the world, said Tomasz Sulej, a paleontologist and professor at the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Its skeleton weighs 1,300 kilograms (2,865 pounds).” Rewrite: “Upon completion, the restored skeleton will be the world’s largest museum exhibit, according to Tomasz Sulej, a paleontologist and professor at the Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, whose specimen weighs 1,300 kg (2,865 lb).” Paragraph 10: “Sulej and his colleague Wojciech Pawlak from the Faculty of Geology at the Warsaw University are credited with discovering the skeleton in southern Poland in 2023 and coming up with the idea to invite volunteers to help with its restoration.” Rewrite: “Sulej, together with Wojciech Pawlak of Warsaw University’s Faculty of Geology, discovered the skeleton in southern Poland in 2023 and proposed inviting volunteers to assist in its restoration.” Paragraph 11: “Sulej says there are no other known Mastodonsaurus skeletons this large anywhere else in the world, and the discovery promises to help scientists learn more about the species.” Rewrite: “Sulej notes that no other Mastodonsaurus skeleton of this size is known worldwide, and the find promises to deepen scientific understanding of the species.” Paragraph 12: “The structure of the body is different from what we knew so far,” he said. “This is information that is completely new to the scientific world.” Rewrite: ““The body structure differs from what we previously knew,” he said, “providing data that is entirely new to science.”” Paragraph 13: “Other Mastodonsaurus skeletons have been found elsewhere, including in Germany and Russia, Sulej said, but they are around 2 to 3 meters (6½ to 10 feet) long.” Rewrite: “Additional Mastodonsaurus skeletons have been recovered in Germany and Russia, though they are smaller, measuring about 2–3 m (6.5–10 ft) in length.” Paragraph 14: “Dorota Serafin, a 51-year-old manager from Warsaw who volunteers for the project, said working with the skeleton of an ancient animal is an experience that is at the same time “relaxing and philosophical, even mystical.”” Rewrite: “Dorota Serafin, a 51‑year‑old Warsaw manager and volunteer, describes the experience as simultaneously relaxing, philosophical, and even mystical.” Paragraph 15: “Serafin said she plans to return for other sessions and eventually bring her family to Copernicus when the restored skeleton is exhibited, which is expected to happen in October or November.” Rewrite: “She intends to attend further sessions and eventually bring her family to the Copernicus Science Centre when the restored skeleton goes on display, expected in October or November.” Paragraph 16: “In addition to the startling experience of touching the remains of an animal that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, contact with the Mastodonsaurus offers an opportunity to reflect on the future, those involved in the project said.” Rewrite: “Beyond the awe of touching remains from an animal that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, the project offers participants a chance to contemplate the future, they say.” Paragraph 17: “The amphibian inhabited Earth’s waters after the largest known mass extinction and just before the dinosaurs appeared. As humanity contemplates the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change, Sulej says the story of the Mastodonsaurus offers some hope.” Rewrite: “The amphibian lived in Earth’s waters after the greatest known mass extinction and just before the rise of dinosaurs. As humanity faces the possible catastrophic impacts of climate change, Sulej says the Mastodonsaurus story provides hope.” Paragraph 18: “The Mastodonsaurus lived after the great extinction, which shows one thing, that nature always manages,” Sulej said. “It’s not true that humans can destroy life on this planet. Nature and life always find ways to survive.”” Rewrite: ““The Mastodonsaurus survived after the great extinction, showing that nature always endures,” Sulej said. “It is not true that humans can destroy life on this planet; nature and life always find a way to survive.”” Now ensure we keep all tags and the class attributes unchanged. So we rewrite content inside each . Ensure we keep the class attributes unchanged (e.g., class=”EkqkG IGXmU …”). We must preserve the original class strings exactly. Also need to preserve any inline HTML like etc. There are none besides class attributes. Thus output: [TITLE]Over 2,000 Volunteers Aid in Careful Restoration of Giant Prehistoric Amphibian Skeleton