ZOHRAN WALKS NEW YORK

A stroll through New York’s boroughs with the socialist Indian American immigrant (and onetime hip-hop musician) who could become the city’s next mayor.

Rushed into production sans mention of Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani’s recent primary win in July 2025, this sunny ramble extends his campaign walk down the length of Manhattan to include appearances at a Bronx street corner and a Mets game in Queens, a wintry dunk into the ocean at Coney Island in Brooklyn, and a ride on the Staten Island Ferry past (pointedly) the Statue of Liberty. Invariably flashing his characteristic broad grin in von Platen’s simply drawn urban scenes, he sits with his wife, Rama Duwaji, on the subway in a scene that depicts them as newlyweds riding the subway from City Hall. He also dances amid a diverse crowd at a street party that’s near his home in Astoria, Queens, according to a map and explanatory key at the end. The author includes a few biographical facts at the end, along with glancing mentions of Mamdani’s political stances. But the book is at least as much a celebration of New York and its residents, and if the streets and parks may not actually be so tidy and spacious as depicted, he and the figures around him in the illustrations represent a realistically diverse cross-section of the city’s populace, its pets and pigeons included.

A vibrant walk-through, equally appealing to locals and visitors.