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NYC DSA ‘army’ takes credit for Zohran Mamdani’s win, declares it ‘a clear mandate for a Democratic socialist agenda’

Today, New York – tomorrow, the world.

The Democratic Socialists of America “army” was quick to take credit for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s election win — declaring that his victory was a “clear mandate” for their progressive agenda.

“Our movement is at the heart of Zohran’s campaign,”  Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of DSA’s New York City chapter, blasted out in a post-election statement Tuesday night.

Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected New York City’s next mayor on Nov. 4, 2025. AP
The Democratic Socialists of America “army” was quick to take credit for Mayor-elect Zohram Mamdani’s election win — declaring that his victory was a “clear mandate” for their progressive agenda. @nycDSA/X

“This overwhelming victory is a clear mandate for a democratic socialist agenda to make New York City one that people can afford,” the statement said. “MAGA billionaires spent millions to prop up Andrew Cuomo and try to stop this movement, but we’ve proved once again: they have money, but we have power.”

Proud DSA member Mamdani chose the Queens World’s Fair globe-shaped Unisphere as the backdrop for his first press conference as mayor-elect Wednesday, where he announced his first steps toward staffing his incoming administration.

He named members of his transition team largely made up of City Hall veterans who served under former mayors Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio, as well as soon-to-depart Mayor Eric Adams.

Not one transition team member was affiliated with the DSA, but the lefty group’s faithful were already crowing behind the scenes about soon infiltrating the highest levels of city government, sources said.

When Mamdani was asked if he’d appoint his thirsty DSA allies into positions of power, he largely dodged the question.

Mamdani held his first press conference as mayor-elect at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in front of the Unisphere. Dennis A. Clark
Mamdani declined to say if he would appoint DSA members to his administration. Dennis A. Clark

“I am looking forward to having every member of my coalition be a part of our transition,” he coyly responded.

“The transition will be guided by the work that we need to do, and the coalition that brought me to this point has done an immense amount of work and has also been leading in the fight for dignity, for a working-class Democratic Party.”


Follow The Post’s live updates of Zohran Mamdani’s election as NYC mayor


But even before Mamdani rolled out the slate of lauded public servants, a group expected to ease anxious Big Apple bigwigs, a card-carrying NYC-DSA member was already boasting of his “key role” in the transition, sources said.

Mamdani announced former Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan will be the co-chair of his transition team. Dennis A. Clark

The member – Manvir Singh – left a trail of social media posts repeatedly calling for the police department to be defunded and once referred to police as “white male welfare.”

“Friendly reminder that All Cops Are Bad,” he tweeted in 2022.

When The Post asked about his role and his socials, the lefty activist made his X account private.

Calls to the campaign and Singh were not returned.

How Mamdani – a 34-year-old state assemblyman with a relatively thin resume – will actually govern and staff his administration after he’s sworn in Jan. 1 is an open question.

His campaign leaned heavily on far-left, radical policies — including taxing the rich, and promising city-run grocery stores and free buses. 

He also touted DSA-friendly policies such as defending the decriminalization of prostitution and ending mayoral control over city public schools.

During a fiery victory speech Tuesday night, Mamdani vowed to stick to his bold, unabashedly progressive agenda. 

He argued New Yorkers expect their leaders to take sweeping action rather than offer excuses for what they can’t do.

Mamdani declared that the election results are a mandate for his progressive agenda. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock

“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he said.

“We won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”


Follow the latest on the Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani:


But during the campaign, Mamdani shied away from publicly embracing more radical DSA policies that were unearthed by The Post.

The NYC-DSA manifesto — which was scrubbed from its website in late 2021 and discovered by The Post through Internet archives — lays out how the group aims to “dismantle and move beyond” America’s capitalist society and create a “wholesale socialist transformation of our national and global economy.”

Mamdani’s campaign brain trust largely consisted of 30-somethings or younger Gen Zers with long histories of left-wing politics, including within the DSA.

Mamdani supporters cheering at the mayor-elect’s election watch party. Aristide Economopoulos

Local DSA members also bragged during the campaign about mobilizing their formidable field operations, including tens of thousands of volunteers, to propel Mamdani to his stunning Democratic primary victory.

And the group’s leaders haven’t been shy about “show of force” at the ballot box to give Mamdani 50% of the vote to claim a mandate.

“We want the biggest possible base of support because that’s what’s going to lead the agenda that we want,” he said on a podcast.

Mamdani’s middle-of-the-road transition team publicly signaled that he aimed to preside over a revamp of the more-mainstream Bloomberg or de Blasio administrations.

But the unapologetic socialist also indicated he won’t govern as a rigidly red doctrinaire.

For instance, repeated his vow several times Wednesday to keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch – who has blasted criminal justice reforms that Mamdani supports – in her post.

“I think it is critically important that we start to embody a style of leadership that does not demand agreement across every single issue,” Mamdani said. 

“In order to even have a conversation, we need to be able to deliver for New Yorkers, and that means to meet New Yorkers, even those with whom we have any disagreements.”

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