In NYC's Jackson Heights, 'Little Bangladesh' takes full pride in Zohran Mamdani win

For years, "Little Bangladesh", the South Asian enclave in New York's Jackson Heights, has been known for its open-air markets and late-night curry restaurants.

The neighbourhood now has another reason to be on the map—Tuesday's election of Zohran Mamdani, who will be the city's first South Asian mayor.

Shopkeepers proudly display Mamdani campaign signs, and Kabab King, where Mamdani has long been a regular, has one of his receipts pinned to their wall.

"Do you want a chicken biryani? That's Zohran Mamdani's favourite," Shahruh Ali, the son of the owner of Kabab King, said a day after election day.

The previous day, the restaurant turned into an election watch party—something he says they hadn’t planned to host, but it felt like the right place for many Mamdani supporters from his community.

"Yesterday was election day. There were a bunch of parties upstairs," he said. "There was a big turnout. Usually, people take food to go. But yesterday, families were sitting together."

It is a festive time that comes after years of a community feeling excluded and maligned. Mamdani's primary opponent, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, spent much of his campaign suggesting that Mamdani was dangerous, in large part because of his background.

"As Americans, we feel excluded. We feel like we're not Americans," he said, pointing to recent comments by Cuomo, suggesting Mamdani would cheer on another 9/11.

Ramon Kaushik, a customer at Kabab King, was looking for a copy of the post-election day's New York Post, featuring Mamdani in red holding a communist hammer and sickle—a way to commemorate his win while laughing about the absurdity of some of the smears against him.

"What's making me happy about Mamdani's win is that I'm Gen Z and I don't think I’ve had any big political win in my lifetime," he told TNA. "It feels good to vote for someone, and it actually means something."

He likes his ideas for free buses, rent freezes and childcare. Beyond his policies, Kaushik has been impressed with his riz (charisma).

"When he speaks, you want to listen. All that combined, he wants to help people," he said.

"In his victory speech, when he said this is a city run by immigrants, and now it's going to be led by one. That's just so wow, amazing. It feels like people running the city should have a voice, instead of millionaires and billionaires."

"I think we're going to have a South Asian summer. You know, like Brat Summer," he added. (Last year, during Kamala Harris's unsuccessful run for president, some linked her to singer Charlie XCX's music.)

Amid all the celebrations, Ali, from Kabab King, remains cautiously optimistic.

"We're all excited to see him win, but we're going to continue to push him to make sure he honours his promises," he remarked. "I said in an email: you used our venue as a platform to publicise your candidacy. And we want to use your platform, the fact that you’re mayor, to come to us and to recognise that our everyday customers here are able to talk to you, are able to vent to you."