STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On Dec. 19, Zohran Mamdani made his first visit to Staten Island as the incoming mayor-elect.
Holding a press briefing in the morning at the site of future housing, Mamdani visited the renowned North Shore restaurant Shaw-nae’s House for lunch.
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visits the critically acclaimed restaurant Shaw-naé‘s House in Stapleton on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025.Jason Paderon
In the small space, owner Shaw-nae Dixon—a descendent of the original oystermen who founded Sandy Ground—talked to Mamdani about what the borough’s place in history and in the city means to her.
With her words still hanging in the air, Mamdani sat down with the Advance/SILive.com for a Q&A about his vision for governing Staten Island.
Below is a transcript of the Q&A, with questions and some areas excerpted or condensed for readability.
Q | Advance/SILive.com: On Staten Island about 23% of people voted for you in the general election. Why do you think the support for you was so low here and how do you hope to improve that?
A | Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani: Right now is an opportunity for me to introduce myself as I am, and the focus of what my administration will be.
Because it’s very much in line with what many Staten Islanders care deeply about – which is not only their ability to afford to live in New York City, but also build a life in New York City.
Those are two separate things. Because too often people are able to scrape by to survive, but when they decide they want to raise a family, where Staten Island used to be a place where they could buy a home and do so, now it feels increasingly out of reach.
(People) who would’ve lived in Staten Island are moving to New Jersey or Long Island. With our growing team, this is the moment to show Staten Islanders that their concerns will be front of mind in our administration and that we’re actually going to deliver on those concerns.
Q: Building more housing seems to conflict with the suburban lifestyle people move to Staten Island for. How do you hope to find common ground?
A: We haven’t even exhausted the opportunities in front of us of people who want more housing in their immediate neighborhoods…
There’s no doubt there will be difficult conversations to be had as we try and balance all the different things that are needed in our city. I think the the goal that we have, however, is that no New Yorker be priced out of living in this city because of a lack of that housing.
Q: You were asked about secession earlier today. The issue is taking its latest run through our elected officials locally. How do you hope to convince them that they don’t need to leave the city? And if they do ultimately decide that is absolutely what they want, is that something you would support?
A: I think of Staten Island as a critical part of New York City. You cannot tell the story of five boroughs without the story of Staten Island.
And as Shaw-nae actually made clear to me just before we had this interview, this isn’t a forgotten borough. It’s a borough of many memories. There are so much history right here on this island.
And I understand why there are Staten Islanders who would feel that history hasn’t been recognized. Because what we’ve seen time and time again through multiple administrations is that this borough becomes a footnote as opposed to a focus.
And what I hope to show through my administration is that we are going to take seriously the concerns of Staten Islanders and deliver on those concerns.
We recently held a 12-hour listening session in Astoria, Queens where a number of Staten Islanders who came. When I asked them how long it took them, they told me it was two and a half hours.
One of them was telling me how transformative it was when we made the S46 free as part of our fair free bus pilot and how it allowed her to see her borough in a way that she hadn’t, to connect with her friends in a way that she hadn’t been able to.
Every Staten Islander deserves that for every single bus that they use. And if we want to talk about the difficulty of affording life in the city, we also have to talk about the difficulty of being able to get around this city because Staten Islanders face that difficulty at a level that many of us do not even understand.
And so delivering fast and free buses, delivering public transit that is excellent, that is efficient, that is going to be a focus for Staten Island as well.
Paul Liotta: At the state level, what do you hope to advocate for regarding transit specifically on Staten Island?
Zohran Mamdani: I think there’s going to be a critical need to work with Albany to fund the fulfillment of making buses fast and free. A lot of the fast comes from infrastructure changes that we can make here in New York City ourselves, but the question of making it free is one that we will have to be working together on.
I also think just speaking about Albany in general, that one of our focuses will be property tax reform. The need to change a property tax system that has been unable to stand up in court because we know that it is unfair. There are many Staten Islanders who they may dream of owning a home. The issue might not even be the price of the home, but rather the price of keeping the home. And we have to ensure that we’re tackling both of these things together.
Paul Liotta: Where does the express bus system fit in your free bus idea?
Zohran Mamdani: You know, I think it is it is critically important, frankly, because express buses are something that I’m also familiar with as someone who used to work in Bay Ridge and be commuting from Morningside Heights.
And I think that we have spoken about a vision for every bus to be fast and free. That’s what we’re going to be putting forward.
Paul Liotta: Apart from Shaw-Nae’s house, what are some top restaurants you’ve found on Staten Island? What are you hoping to try?
Zohran Mamdani: I’ve had some great Sri Lankan food on Staten Island when I visited a few years ago with friends.
And I think there’s just so many more places that I can be going and I’m excited to keep coming back to Staten Island because this truly is not an obligation, it’s an opportunity, and and I’m looking forward to showing that.