New York stands apart from the rest of America. While the United States is swept up every day in the Trumpist whirlwind, the country's economic capital seems poised to entrust its fate to a 33-year-old "socialist," Muslim and relatively inexperienced politician. Zohran Mamdani is leading the municipal race by a wide margin. The local elected official from Queens bucking the conservative revolution has become the focus of attention.

The candidate has been in the spotlight ever since his victory in the Democratic primary in June, running on a platform summed up in a single word: affordability. He wants to make the world's richest city, which has become unaffordable for its own residents, affordable once again. "There are people across the world who are watching this," he said on Monday, September 22, in a motivational speech to his campaign team. "And they are watching it because we have the audacity to believe that working people could win a city that they could in fact afford."

New Yorkers have grown accustomed in recent months to his youthful, bearded face and broad smile: It is plastered everywhere in city streets and cafés by thousands of hyperactive activists. He also appears repeatedly in slick campaign videos on social media, topped with the slogan "Zohran for NYC," cleverly designed to resemble a neighborhood storefront sign.

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