Zohran Mamdani, New York state assemblyman and New York City mayoral candidate, was heckled, booed and subjected to xenophobic insults while campaigning in Staten Island this week.
Why It Matters
Mamdani, 33, became the Democratic mayoral nominee after defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the June 24 Democratic primary.
Results finalized by the New York City Board of Elections showed Mamdani easily clearing the 50 percent threshold, resulting in both Cuomo and New York City Mayor Eric Adams running as independents in opposition of his candidacy.
All three have gone after one another while the perennial Republican candidate, 71-year-old Curtis Sliwa, is once again aiming for a major upset for the GOP. Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden is also vying for a long-shot victory as an independent.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
What To Know
“You are not welcome in this f****** island,” Scott LoBaido, local artist-activist, shouted at Mamdani while he was visiting Istanbul Bay Mediterranean Restaurant on Wednesday, according to video footage posted to X, formerly Twitter.
LoBaido, 60, also called Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, a “communist,” and later added, “You f****** Jew-hating piece of s***.”
Mamdani has been sharply critical of the Israeli government’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians since the Israel-Hamas war started following Hamas‘ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel.
The Democratic mayoral candidate has called for Israel to end its “occupation” of Gaza and described the country as an apartheid state. He has also voiced support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to economically isolate Israel.
Mamdani has been accused of antisemitism by Zionist groups and his political opponents, a charge he vehemently denies while noting that criticism of the Israeli government does not equate to prejudice against Jewish people.
LoBaido was among several GOP protesters who pelted Mamdani, who immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 7 years old, with racist and xenophobic attacks while he was in Republican stronghold Staten Island, New York City’s GOP outlier among its five boroughs.
“Go back to where you came from. We don’t want you on Staten Island,” a protester wearing a “Trump girl” T-shirt and holding an American flag shouted at Mamdani as he left the restaurant, according to Fox News.
LoBaido, meanwhile, told local media that he was arrested after shouting at the mayoral candidate and issued summonses for disorderly conduct, sound violation and foul language.
“I decided to throw him a Staten Island-style surprise welcome party,” the activist told SILive. “One of my three arrest summonses was use of foul language. I will plead guilty as f****** charged on that one.”
LoBaido touted his actions in an Instagram post after footage of him yelling at Mamdani started circulating online.
“You ever throw a surprise party? You know how hard it is to keep it quiet so the participant who it’s for doesn’t find out?” LoBaido said in his video post. “Well, folks, put another notch on my belt: surprise party king … because it was perfect yesterday.”
“Everybody that was involved, all the other guests that came were quiet until we got there. And he showed up and he was trying to come through the side door, not even in the front door, and we came running at him,” he added. “Surprise, mother******!”
LoBaido went on to say that Mamdani got “slammed right into the side door,” though that detail has not been confirmed.
“We went storming in the front, there was 30, 40 of us, whatever. There was about 10 of his f****** people there. And we—God, that guy knew who we were,” he added, continuing that he pointed his finger in Mamdani’s face “to honor my good friend, Tom Homan.”
LoBaido was likely referencing a viral moment from earlier this year in which Mamdani confronted Homan, President Donald Trump‘s border czar, and berated him over the Trump administration’s detention of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil.
“Tommy, I made that guy look like a little f****** crying schoolgirl, all due respect to schoolgirls,” LoBaido said in his Instagram post. “Anyway, it’s good to know that he’s seen my face now and he knows Uncle Scotty and my crew of patriots that are going to be following” Mamdani “around my city, our city, until November.”
What People Are Saying
Mamdani responded to the protesters, saying in part: “I will not let it dissuade me from continuing to come to Staten Island, from continuing to speak to New Yorkers, no matter where they live, no matter what politics they have. Because I know that just as there are Republicans who feel that way, there are others who are sincere in their questions.”
Shahana Masum, a Mamdani supporter, told Fox News the Democratic mayoral nominee represents “me and my community,” adding: “You didn’t go back to your country, and I came here with dignity and with my visa, so don’t tell me to leave.”
What Happens Next
Mamdani continues holding a strong lead over his opponents, with a Siena University poll this week showing his support as equivalent to that of his three strongest adversaries combined.
New York City’s general mayoral election is scheduled for November 4.