In the days since Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Jan. 1, he’s lost no time delivering his version of Utopia, succinctly described by author Robert Spencer as “Low rent. Free buses. Universal childcare.”
Aside from Mamdani’s repeal of the previous mayor’s executive order addressing antisemitism and his appointment of a controversial director to the Mayor’s Office of Protecting Tenants, he’s rushing to give his voters what he promised. On Jan. 8, Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the launch of free child care for two-year-olds in NYC.
Robert Spencer tried to warn voters with his book, Intifada on the Hudson: The Selling of Zohran Mamdani. Published before the 2025 election, Spencer takes readers into the background of Mamdani’s parents, his education, his short career (just two terms as a New York State Assemblyman), and his beliefs. Spencer included two open letters: one to the Jews of New York, and another to all people of good will. Obviously, those who voted didn’t care or weren’t listening.
Reading it now made me feel that Spencer is fated to be a Cassandra, a prophet crying in the wilderness yet never believed. Even though Mamdani is in office, there is good reason to buy and read this book. In our days of fleeting social media videos and disappearing reels, the author gives us exhaustively documented, authoritative details of Zohran’s life in one place. It will be good to have this to share with New Yorkers when they wonder why and how their city fell apart.
His Father Becomes a Marxist
Spencer begins at the beginning: the story of Mamdani’s parents, Mahmood Mamdani, professor, and internationally known filmmaker Mira Nair. My favorite part of the book is the description of how Mahmood became radicalized as a scholarship student at the University of Pittsburgh. After he was jailed briefly in a civil rights march in Alabama, the FBI visited him at home to find out if he was a Marxist. In a scene worthy of a sit-com, the FBI managed to introduce Mahmood to Karl Marx and change the course of his career. Good going, feds.
Mahmood’s Marxist beliefs, as well as the progressive views of his mother, enveloped Zohran and molded him.
Life of Privilege
Zohran himself admitted in an interview that he had “a privileged upbringing.” Spencer details the exclusive schools that he attended, from South Africa to New York City. He attended the progressive Bank Street School for Children for middle school, and the Bronx High School of Science, one of the most highly rated high schools in the country. After failing to gain acceptance to Columbia, he studied at the private Bowdoin College in Maine.
As you would expect from an author of 32 books, including bestsellers on Islam and Mohammed, Spencer illustrates how the tenets of Islam shape Zohran’s perspective. In this book, you’ll learn how Zohran is one of the Ithna-Asheri, the largest sect of the Shi’ite Muslims. This makes him a spiritual brother to the mullahs of Tehran, those of the “Death to America” chants.
What Zohran is Not is Important
Mamdani is perfect for his audience because he isn’t white Anglo; he isn’t old, and he isn’t part of the New York establishment a la Chuck Schumer. Better yet to the radical left, Mamdani was born in Uganda, not America. As Spencer says:
…if Mamdani were named James Smith and he had been born in Manhattan, he would be far less appealing to Democrats as a candidate, even if he espoused exactly the same agenda using exactly the same rhetoric.
The book covers the family’s moves from Uganda to South Africa when he was five, then to New York City just two years later, where he has been ever since. Interesting to know that though Zohran makes much of his Ugandan background, he spent only his earliest years there.
Where the Money Came From
Though Mamdani touts himself as a progressive man of the poor and working class, his support in the mayoral race didn’t come solely from them. He broke out of the pack of nine Democrats on a debate stage thanks to George Soros. Spencer documents how the billionaire’s Open Society Foundation gave $37 million to the Working Families Party and other groups. Mamdani’s direct contributions were less than $2 million.
What Lies Ahead
Spencer titled the last chapter of the book “What is to Be Done?” Spencer urges the nation’s voters to reject the influence of a new type of Democrat politician. Mamdani isn’t the last of his type: young, inexperienced, socialist, and anti-traditional American values. He is replicated by Omar Fateh, of Minneapolis and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City.
Mamdani’s policies could mean financial ruin for the nation’s largest city. Spencer shares one last history lesson: the near-bankruptcy of New York City in the ‘70s, with then-President Ford’s famous refusal to bail out the Big Apple. Mamdani’s desire to give and give to his voters without a solid plan to pay for it could force a showdown of the same scene. It leaves you to muse: what would President Trump say to a Mayor Mamdani asking for a handout?
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