Mayor Zohran Mamdani breaks his quick at Astoria’s Masjid Islamic Unity & Cultural Middle on Tuesday, March 17.
Picture by Shane O’Brien
Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited an Astoria mosque Tuesday night time to interrupt his Ramadan quick with dozens of Bosnian New Yorkers in what the mayor described as a homecoming to the meeting district he as soon as represented.
Mamdani, who’s the town’s first Muslim mayor, attended the Masjid Islamic Unity & Cultural Middle at 31-33 twelfth St. on March 17 for iftar, the fast-breaking meal loved after sunset all through the month of Ramadan.
The mayor, who as soon as represented the mosque whereas representing the thirty sixth Meeting District within the state legislature, stated Tuesday’s go to felt like a homecoming.
“In many ways, this is a return home for me,” Mamdani stated earlier than breaking his quick. “It truly is coming back to the very people that have made this city special for so long.”
Picture by Shane O’Brien
Mamdani stated it was an honor to go to the mosque as the primary Muslim mayor within the metropolis’s historical past and praised all attendees who voted within the 2025 mayoral election.
“You did not do something small,” Mamdani stated. “You did something big. You saw yourself in a city that is also your own. You saw yourself in its politics. You saw yourself in its future. … I would not stand before you as the mayor of this city, if it wasn’t for every single New Yorker who told themselves that this would be the time that they would participate.”
The mayor added that individuals within the Astoria mosque and in mosques throughout the town had been “overlooked” in metropolis politics due to their faith.
Talking to principally Bosnian Muslims, Mamdani famous that some in the area people had fled a genocide to succeed in New York, referring to the ethnic cleaning of Bosnians by the Military of Republika Srpska through the Bosnian Struggle within the Nineteen Nineties.
“I know that many in this community came here after a genocide, came here out of necessity to find a place of safety, to find a place where one could be oneself and not have to worry about what that meant for themselves,” Mamdani stated. “I know that there are many who still mourn brothers and sisters, family members who are lost or taken.”
After delivering remarks, Mamdani joined the group for prayer and broke his quick whereas chatting to locals.
The mayor additionally posed for images with younger kids and noticed plans to redevelop the mosque through the go to.
Mamdani considered plans for a renovated mosque. Picture by Shane O’Brien
Ramadan will finish at sunset on Thursday, March 19, or Friday, March 20, relying on the sighting of the brand new moon.
The mayor additionally posed for a number of photographs with younger kids. Picture by Shane O’Brien
