Mamdani visits NAN for first MLK Day as mayor

If there is a place to encounter the New York City Democratic establishment – or those hoping to join the Democratic establishment – it’s Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters on a major holiday. 

For Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who visited the organization on Monday to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., that meant sharing the stage with some people with whom he has been at odds. There was Sen. Chuck Schumer, who never endorsed him and whose apartment Mamdani has been arrested protesting outside of while calling for an end to the war in Gaza. There was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who falsely said on the radio that Mamdani had “made references to global jihad” and later apologized. There was Rep. Dan Goldman, who is facing a primary challenge from Mamdani-backed Brad Lander. And Mamdani’s political home, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, has considered supporting challenges to House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (which Mamdani successfully quashed), and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, both of whom were also present and gave remarks.

Mamdani has a better relationship with others who attended including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and state Sen. Jabari Brisport. Two of Mamdani’s appointees, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels were also there.

Speaking from the stage though, Mamdani didn’t let on to any tension. He acknowledged the elected officials present, saying: “I thank all of these many leaders because what you see on this stage is the fact that leadership can never be contained in one person. … Politics can never be distilled into the act of self. It has to be collective.”

The mayor, who received a warm welcome from the crowd, also didn’t address complaints recently reported in The New York Times that none of his five deputy mayors are Black.

Like Hochul and many others who spoke, Mamdani focused his remarks on how King’s teachings could apply to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the wake of a welfare fraud scandal. As of this weekend, the Trump Administration had surged 3,000 immigration agents into the city, more than the number of police employed on the local force. Protests continued over the ICE shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7. 

“The flame of justice lit by Dr. King and so many others is still too fragile,” Mamdani said. “Those forces of darkness wear masks because they know what they are doing is wrong. They murder a mother of three as she tries to drive away.”