With the New York City mayoral race entering the homestretch, frontrunner and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) for a town hall at Sanders’s alma mater, Brooklyn College, on Sept. 6.
The Midwood event was part of Sanders’ nationwide Fighting Oligarchy tour, which calls out the influence billionaires and corporations have in U.S. politics. Since its kickoff in February, more than 300,000 people in 21 states have attended the rallies.
The diverse crowd of about 1,700 at Saturday night’s event greeted the democratic socialist duo with thunderous applause and a standing ovation as they entered the stage at the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts.
Mamdani began his address denouncing the City University of New York’s decision to fire four adjunct professors, who claim they were dismissed because of their solidarity with the Palestinian cause in the Middle East. Some “Free, free Palestine” chants arose from the crowd.
Focusing on the mayor’s race, Mamdani sought to address what he believes is President Trump’s attempt to meddle in the mayoral election, reportedly offering jobs to Mayor Eric Adams and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race and potentially improve former Gov Andrew Cuomo’s chances of winning — even though Cuomo has publicly said he doesn’t want Trump’s help.
Mamdani emphasized that “New York City was not for sale.”
“New York City is not for sale to Donald Trump’s billionaire donors. It is not for sale to corporations like DoorDash, it is not for sale to corrupt politicians like Andrew Cuomo,” said Mamdani, noting that Sanders’ Fight Oligarchy tour had energized tens of thousands of Americans across the country.
“It has shown once again that politics is something that can be powered by ordinary people with not just a rejection of authoritarianism, but a belief in what is possible as well,” Mamadani said.
Sanders, who endorsed Mamdani in June, told the crowd that the Queens Assembly member’s rise from 2% in the polls at the beginning of the Democratic mayoral primary to garnering the nomination was a testament to the extraordinary grassroots movement with 50,000 volunteers.
“This campaign is not ugly 30-second TV ads; it is a grassroots movement which you have been part of,” said Sanders, noting that his tour has shown that Americans in red and blue states did not want to live in an oligarchic or authoritarian society.
“What Zohran’s campaign is about is an understanding that today we are living in an unprecedented moment in the modern history of our country, and we’ve got to fight back in an unprecedented way,” said Sanders, alleging that corporate America and Trump seem afraid of the people’s power based on the attacks leveled against Mamdani.
“What are these people, these oligarchs, afraid of?” Sanders asked, pointing to Mamdani. “What they are afraid of is not only the question of bringing justice to New York City; they are afraid of Mr. Mamdani becoming an example of what can happen all over this country. They are scared to death.”
Sanders also pointed out that some of the top-ranking New York Democrats have yet to endorse Mamdani, without mentioning names.
“I find it hard to understand how the major Democratic leaders in New York state are not supporting the Democratic candidate,” Sanders said. “One might think that if a candidate starting at 2% in the polls gets 50,000 volunteers, creates enormous excitement, gets young people involved in the political process, gets nontraditional voters to vote, Democratic leaders will be jumping up and down, ‘This is our guy.'”
Mamdani and Sanders answered a slew of questions from the crowd, including Trump’s attack on the immigrant community and his threat to deploy the National Guard to New York City.
“This idea of picking people up off the street with men who have masks around their faces, throwing them into vans, taking them to God knows where, and then deporting them to countries where they know nobody is beyond unspeakable,” Sanders said. “That’s what happens in dictatorships, not in the United States of America.”
Mamdani pointed out that New Yorkers had to prepare for the inevitability of the National Guard’s deployment.
“We cannot try and convince ourselves that because something is illegal, Donald Trump will not do it,” Mamdani told the crowd. “Partnership is critically important in fighting back against Donald Trump. Can you imagine Andrew Cuomo working together with Tish James and Kathy Hochul to fight back against the deployment? Why would he fight back when it’s Donald Trump trying to get him elected right now?”
Harlem resident Jonathan Diaz told Brooklyn Paper that he has always supported Bernie Sanders because the Vermont senator stood up for the working class. Diaz noted that Mamdani’s platform overlapped with Sanders’s political agenda and validated his support of Mamdani.
“Zohran has very similar energy. He’s not for the government, he’s for the people,” Diaz noted. “Ever since the primary, his whole base has been about that collective effort. I think it’s incredible. So I think that’s the whole appeal of it, the collectivity of it all.”
Civil rights historian Alice Bernstein attended the event with her daughter Rachel Bernstein, who was a delegate for Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential runs.
Rachel Bernstein told Brooklyn Paper that Mamdani, like Sanders, cared about working people who had difficulty making ends meet.
“Zohran is a young, breath of fresh air that wants to do all the same things as Bernie. He has a lot of energy and vitality, and I think he could make it work, and we need that so much,” Rachel Bernstein said.
Alice Bernstein noted Sanders and Mamdani were a pair who could “strengthen each other.”
“And we need all the strength we can get,” Bernstein said.
