Katherine Firkin: US journalist on Zohran Mamdani winning the New York mayoralty

The new mayor-elect for New York City, Zohran Mamdani, is causing quite the stir in the Big Apple - to Donald Trump's displeasure. 

The 34-year-old democratic socialist's appealed to young and working class voters in order to secure a landmark win.

US journalist Katherine Firkin says Mamdani's landmark win will come as a blow to Republicans.

"Of course New York is a Democratic-strong city and we were never going to see Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa elected, but the fact that we have seen someone of Mamdani's stance - someone who is really a polar opposite to Trump in almost every way...really is quite a show of the resistance that's happening at the moment."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New York City has just elected its youngest ever mayor,
Democratic socialist Zora and Mandami has won at the age
of thirty four. Here he is speaking just moments ago tonight.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is
in our hands, my friends. We have toppled a political dynasty.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Catherine Ferkin is a US journalist in New York City
and with US.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Now hy Catherine, Hello, Hana, how are you.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
I'm very well, mate, Good to talk to you again. Now,
how are you seeing this? Is this a commentary on
Trump given how much Trump opposed him, or is this
just a democratic city electing a Democratic mayor.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I think what we're seeing tonight is actually incredibly worrying
for Republicans. I mean, of course, New York is a
Democrat strong city, and we were never going to see
a Republican candidate Coasele are elected. But the fact that
we have seen someone of Mandan his stance, you know,
someone who is really a polar opposite to Trump in
almost every way, someone who President Trump was actively campaigning against,

(01:09):
really is quite a quite a show of the just
the resistance it's happening at the moment against President Trump.
I mean, we saw over two million New Yorkers turn
out for this election, and these are only local elections.
They don't have to vote here. So the fact that
so many people felt motivated to come out and make
their voices heard in this fashion, I think it's a

(01:31):
huge concern for Republicans.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
He has a list of some pretty radical and actually
probably very expensive things that he wants to get done.
How much of this will he actually realistically be able
to achieve?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Wow, Well, this is the big question, isn't it, Heather.
I mean, he's made some pretty enormous promises, and they
are promises that I'm not surprised have really resonated with people.
I mean, cost of living in New York it is expensive.
Paying your rent is incredibly expensive. You know, everyone, even
ex perhaps like myself, just you know, that's the number
one thing we all complain about. So you have someone

(02:05):
like Mandani coming in and saying, well, I'm going to
be able to freeze rent. I'm going to make childcare free.
I mean, childcare costs here are enormous. I'm going to
make buses free. You know, he's promising all these sorts
of things, but how much are we actually going to
see happen. New York taxes are already so high, they
are so expensive, we pay taxes on everything, it feels like.
So I just don't know how this is actually going

(02:27):
to eventuate. And if we are all lumped with more taxes,
are we going to be better off in the end?
I think that's the big question.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean the rent freezer. Off the list of
things that you have just outlined, what is the one
thing that he absolutely has to do for his own credibility?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Well, I mean I think he has to He has
to freeze rent and he has to make childcare free,
because those are the things. When I was talking to
voters they kept coming back to and saying, well, Hey,
if this happens, this will be incredible, because I mean,
childcate here is astronomical. I have through little kids of
my own and I can't afford to send them to
a childcare. They're with me most of the time, and
our rent is just phenomenal. But how on earth is

(03:07):
he actually going to do this? We really haven't been
given any detail, heather on how this is going to work.
I mean, are we all just going to be suddenly
paying these massive taxes or is he going to have
to sort of backtrack what I think is going to happen.
And this is purely my speculation, is that we're going
to see rent freezers only you know, perhaps in income

(03:28):
based scenarios, so perhaps only if you're owning below a
certain amount, or only in designated areas. I really don't
think we're going to suddenly see rent prices drop in
New York. Perhaps I'm too skeptical, but I just don't
see how on earth that's going to suddenly come about.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Catherine, Thanks very much, mate, look after yourself. Catherine Firk
and US journalist in New York. For more from Hither
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