民主党竞选纽约市长的领先者佐兰·曼达尼他说，他将成为“每一个纽约人”的领袖，并在选举的最后阶段接受“ABC News Live Prime”主播林西·戴维斯(Linsey Davis)的广泛采访时，尽量不要“让人们相互对立”。
34岁的马姆达尼在周一坐下来接受采访时谈到了他所拥有的一切叫做反伊斯兰言论在他的对手之一，前纽约州州长安德鲁·科莫发表了有争议的言论后，他开始攻击他的竞选活动。
“这是一位参加广播节目的前州长。电台节目主持人说，如果再有一个9/11，我会为它欢呼。安德鲁·科莫笑着表示同意。从那以后已经过去好几天了，他还没有道歉，”玛姆达尼说。“我并没有把他的言论描述为仇视伊斯兰教。这就是那些言论。”
马姆达尼还回应了副总统JD Vance的“令人震惊”的言论，此前市长候选人表示，他的阿姨在9/11事件后戴着头巾乘坐地铁感到不舒服。作为对马姆达尼评论的回应，万斯在社交媒体上说:“据佐兰说，9/11的真正受害者是他的阿姨，她(据称)长得很难看。”
“可悲的是，这并不令人惊讶，但仍然令人震惊的是，看到这个国家的副总统试图就伊斯兰恐惧症开一个廉价的玩笑，而纽约人想要的是一个可以团结起来的城市的愿景，”马姆达尼谈到万斯的言论。“走到一起意味着尊重每一个把这座城市当成自己家的人，而不是试图让人们彼此对立，这已经成为共和党政治的规范，现在我们也在民主党政治中看到了。”
由于一些犹太领导人对他的候选资格表示担忧，在全国1000多名拉比签署了一份信Mamdani谴责他对以色列的言论，他说他“赞赏”他与五个区的拉比和犹太领袖的谈话。
“这些对话不仅让我明白了在全市范围内根除反犹太主义意味着什么，这是我们必须做的，也让我明白了我们必须采取的许多不同方式，”他说，提到了增加仇恨犯罪预防资金和实施课程等行动，“庆祝这座城市历史上犹太生活的广度和美丽。”
“我期待着成为每一个纽约人的市长，每一个犹太纽约人的市长，不仅仅是那些实际上投票给我的人，而是任何把这座城市称为家的人，”他说。
在纽约市提前投票开始的前几天，马姆达尼收到了一份认可来自民主党众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯(Hakeem Jeffries，D-N.Y .)，尚未得到参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer，D-N.Y .)的支持
当被问及对此有何看法时，马姆达尼说，他感谢杰弗里斯的支持，两人特别讨论了支付能力。
“我说这些也是因为我知道，我现在作为民主党提名人坐在你对面的椅子上，不是因为我得到了多少支持，而是因为我们建立的运动——9万名纽约人一直在敲门，打电话，”马姆达尼说。“是这些人策划了这场运动。这些人将带我们越过终点线。”
Mamdani的负担能力承诺包括免费公共汽车、增加免费儿童保育和冻结租金稳定单元的租金。
他提议对年收入超过100万美元的纽约市居民征收2%的税，并将该州的公司税率提高到11.5%。这两项税收改革都需要得到州领导人的批准，尽管纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔已经明确表示，她不打算提高纽约人的税收。
问他将如何资助他的求婚如果他不能增加税收，马姆达尼说他将继续推动增税，他认为这将有助于纽约市“抵御特朗普”威胁如果被特朗普称为“激进分子”和“共产主义者”的议员获胜，唐纳德·特朗普总统将从该市收回联邦资金。
“我将继续阐述为什么我认为我们需要对最富有的1%的人增税2%，为什么我们需要提高该州的最高公司税率以赶上新泽西州的税率，这样做将筹集90亿美元。这超过了支付我们的经济议程，并开始实际上'防特朗普'我们的城市，”他说。“我将这样做，因为我认为，在世界历史上最富裕的城市和最富裕的国家，我们实际上确保我们有必要的资金，使它成为纽约人负担得起的地方，这是最有意义的。”
当被问及对他最大的误解是什么时，马姆达尼说，他认为他的支付平台并不适合所有纽约人。
“有时候，人们对我以及我们的政治有一种误解，认为我只是在对某些纽约人说话。例如，我只和房客交谈，而不是房主，我只和住在这个社区而不是那个社区的纽约人交谈，”他说。
“对我来说，可负担性议程要有真正的意义，就必须普遍适用。这意味着既要冻结租金稳定的租户的租金，又要承担破碎的财产税体系。这同时意味着，我们正在讨论如何让公共汽车变得快速和免费，我们也在寻求帮助那些不乘坐公共汽车的纽约人，对吗?”玛玛达尼说。
“这是我们政治的一个普遍应用，因为政治的特点往往是领导人只想着为那些已经同意他们的人服务。我希望为每一个以这座城市为家的人服务，”他补充道。
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on campaign rhetoric, affordability proposals
Democratic frontrunner for New York City mayorZohran Mamdanisaid he would be a leader for "every New Yorker" and try not to "pit people against each other," during a wide-ranging interview with "ABC News Live Prime" anchor Linsey Davis in the last stretch of the election.
At the top of Monday's sit-down interview, Mamdani, 34, addressed what he hascalled anti-Islamic commentsmade to attack his campaign, following controversial statements made by one of his opponents, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
"This is a former governor who went on a radio show. The radio show host said that if there was another 9/11, I would be cheering it. Andrew Cuomo laughed and agreed. And it's been a number of days since then, and he's yet to apologize," Mamdani said. "That's not my description of his remarks as being Islamophobic. That is what those remarks are."
Mamdani also responded to "shocking" remarks by Vice President JD Vance after the mayoral candidate said his aunt felt uncomfortable riding the subway wearing her hijab after 9/11. In response to Mamdani's comments, Vance said on social media: "According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks."
"It is sadly unsurprising, but still shocking to see the vice president of this country try and make a cheap joke about Islamophobia when what New Yorkers want is a vision of a city that can come together," Mamdani said of Vance's remarks. "And coming together means honoring every single person who calls this city their home, not trying to pit people against each other as has become the norm in both Republican politics and now we're also seeing in Democratic politics as well."
On concerns about his candidacy from some Jewish leaders, after more than 1,000 rabbis from across the country signed aletterdecrying his rhetoric on Israel, Mamdani said he has "appreciated" conversations he has had with rabbis and Jewish leaders in the five boroughs.
"Those are conversations that have not only informed my understanding of what it means to root out antisemitism across the city, which we must do, but also the many different ways that we have to do it," he said, mentioning actions such as increasing funding for hate crime prevention and implementing a curriculum that "celebrates the breadth and the beauty of Jewish life in the history of this city."
"I'm looking forward to being the mayor for every New Yorker, for every Jewish New Yorker, and not just those who actually vote for me, but anyone who calls the city home," he said.
Days before early voting kicked off in New York City, Mamdani received anendorsementfrom one top Democrat -- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. -- and has yet to be endorsed by the other -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Asked what he makes of that, Mamdani said he appreciates Jeffries' support and that the two discussed affordability in particular.
"I also say all of this knowing that the reason I sit in a chair across from you now as the Democratic nominee is not because of the number of endorsements that I've received, but because of the movement that we've built -- 90,000 New Yorkers who've been knocking on doors, making phone calls," Mamdani said. "Those are the people who've built this campaign. Those are the people who will take us across the finish line."
Among Mamdani's affordability promises are free public buses, an increase in free childcare and frozen rents for rent-stabilized units.
He has proposed paying for those through a 2% tax on New York City residents earning more than $1 million a year and an increase in the state's corporate tax rate to 11.5%. Both tax changes would need approval from state leaders, though New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been clear that she does not intend to raise taxes on New Yorkers.
Asked how he would fund hisproposalsif he isn't able to increase taxes, Mamdani said he would continue to push for the hikes -- which he argued would help "Trump-proof" New York City, followingthreatsfrom President Donald Trump to take away federal funding from the city if the assemblyman, whom Trump has called a "radical" and "communist," wins.
"I will continue to make the case as to why I think we need to increase taxes on the top 1% by 2%, why we need to raise the state's top corporate tax rate to match that of New Jersey, and in doing so, this would raise $9 billion. And that more than pays for our economic agenda and starts to actually 'Trump-proof' our city," he said. "And I will make that case because I think it makes the most sense in the wealthiest city and the wealthiest country in the history of the world that we actually ensure we have the funding necessary to make it a place that New Yorkers can afford."
Asked what the biggest misconception is about him, Mamdani said he thinks it's that his affordability platform isn't for all New Yorkers.
"There is, at times, a misconception about me and also in our politics that I'm only speaking to a certain set of New Yorkers when I'm speaking about that. That I'm only talking to tenants, for example, and not homeowners, that I'm only speaking to New Yorkers who live in this neighborhood as opposed to that one," he said.
"For me, the affordability agenda, for it to have a real, true meaning, it has to be universally applied. It means both at once freezing the rent for rent-stabilized tenants and taking on a broken property tax system. It means at the same time that we are talking about how we make buses fast and free, that we are also looking to help those New Yorkers who don't take the bus, right?"Mamadani said.
"This is a universal application of our politics because too often what politics is characterized by are leaders who are looking only to serve those who already agree with them. I'm looking to serve everyone who calls the city home," he added.
