Twenty-five years after Muslim terrorists killed 2,800 people in New York City on September 11, 2001, a self-identified Muslim has, for the first time in that city’s history, become mayor.
What is the significance of this, and what does it really tell us?
On January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani — 35 years old, born in Uganda to Indian parents, Shia Muslim, former housing counselor and rapper (“Young Cardamom”), self-described democratic socialist — was sworn in as mayor of New York City. He has been described by many, including the President of the United States, as a “100% Communist Lunatic.”
Others accuse him of being a closet Muslim radical working to subvert New York to Islam. Their concerns are not unwarranted (not least since Shia Islam is notorious for internalizing taqiyya, a doctrine that promotes dissembling).