Eight-year-old Ahil Reehum woke up extra early on Friday to make sure he was in the front row for Eid al-Fitr prayers in Prospect Park.
His goal on the day marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan was to meet Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who was joining that morning for prayers.
“I’m actually so excited, I told my dad, I want to take a picture with him so badly,” the third-grader told THE CITY.
His dad, Ahil Hossain Reehum, shared the excitement.
“We are proud today, we’re excited,” he said, then joked: “Everybody is on time today.” (Young Ahil did not end up getting his photo, which he said later was an “unfulfilled dream.”)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani greets New Yorkers at morning prayer in Prospect Park, March 20, 2026. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY
Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has zig-zagged across the city throughout Ramadan, fully embracing the faith he shares with hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.
Before arriving in Prospect Park, he had also visited mosques in Jamaica and in East New York on Friday morning. On Thursday, he’d been in Jackson Heights for Chand Raat, a festival to mark the end of Ramadan, and then to prayers in Washington Square Park.
Ramadan, which is a month of the Islamic lunar calendar, is his favorite month of the year, Mamdani said. Over its 30 days that conclude on Saturday, he’s attended and hosted celebrations all across the city.
“It is a month where we also get to reflect on who we are, why it is that we do what we do, and our part of a much larger community than just ourselves,” the mayor said during his remarks at prayers in the Greenwich Village park.
Mamdani also visited Rikers Island for the first time as mayor for an Iftar, the meal to break the all-day fast. He hosted an Iftar at City Hall for reporters and another for social media creators, and joined Knicks player Mohamed Diawara for a meal.
The mayor also hosted Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student and activist who was detained by ICE, along with his wife, at Gracie Mansion for an Iftar; the meal was criticized by some including President Donald Trump, whose spokeswoman called him “anti-American” and said he participated in “pro-terrorist activities.”
At an Iftar at the Museum of the City of New York for Muslim city employees, he spoke about the challenges of fasting, and the Islamophobia he and others face. The challenges were always present even in the celebrations, he said.
“For nearly as long as there has been a New York City, there have been Muslim New Yorkers,” he said. “And yet for nearly just as long, those with power and platform have sought to dehumanize.”
Mamdani told THE CITY on Friday that it’s important for all New Yorkers to see him fully taking part in Ramadan, not just Muslims.
Muslims New Yorkers watch and record Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the Masjid Islamic Unity & Cultural Center in Astoria, March 17, 2026. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY
“New Yorkers can be from anywhere, we can be part of any faith, and the beauty of this day is that, all that so many Muslims want in this city is just to belong in the place that they know is their home,” he said.
“And that belonging is not something that should be exclusive to any religion or any one community, but for all of us.”
This week, Mamdani began the Christian feast day of St. Patrick’s Day with a pre-dawn meal, known as a suhoor, alongside Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland. She was his guest of honor at the Gracie Mansion breakfast he hosted after, which was his first official event at his residence.
Although fasting, he feted a room full of leaders from Ireland and New York City who enjoyed Shepherd’s pie, beans and sausage and smoked salmon. He spoke about the contributions Irish immigrants made to New York City, building the city’s skyscrapers and digging its tunnels.
And he quoted St. Patrick, who wrote in two surviving letters from the fifth century that all he could do was “weep with those who weep.”
Mamdani tied that idea to modern-day Ireland’s support for Palestine, a position strongly shared by the mayor.
He later attended mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and marched in the parade, and also attended a luncheon hosted by Archbishop Ronald Hicks, the newest leader of the Archdiocese of New York.
Ahmed had the mayor sign his portrait during an end of Ramadan celebration at the Masjid Islamic Unity and Cultural Center in Astoria, Queens, March 17, 2026. Credit: Katie Honan/THE CITY
Mamdani, who was criticized for not attending Hicks’s official swearing-in ceremony, noted the two had met earlier in the week, which he said was “truly a joy.”
The mayor ended the day praying at the Masjid Islamic Unity & Cultural Center in his old Astoria state legislative district.
One young attendee, Ahmed, drew a picture of Mamdani, writing “Thanks for everything,” and had the mayor sign it. Other children lined up on the stairway inside just to get a photo of the mayor.
Adults, too, were thrilled to pray with the city’s new leader.
Among them were Zara Kandić who fled Montenegro, which was a part of the former Yugoslavia, along with other Bosniaks who faced genocide in the 1990s. She ended up in Astoria, which became a landing spot for refugees like her.
Although their community is small, she felt Mamdani’s visit to their mosque was a recognition of their role in the city.
Mamdani’s election was “very personal” to her, she said. “It shows that the American dream is real.”
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