Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined fans in Astoria sports bar Rivercrest Friday night to watch as the New York Knicks secured a narrow victory against the San Antonio Spurs to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
Mamdani joined state Sen. Mike Gianaris, who is retiring at the end of the year, and Aber Kawas, a candidate to replace Gianaris in the 12th Senate District, at the Ditmars Boulevard bar for the 105-104 victory, posing with fans throughout the game.
The mayor was back in Queens Sunday, marching alongside several candidates he has endorsed for the state Legislature at Queens Pride in Jackson Heights.
Mamdani marched alongside several members of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, including Kawas; Samantha Kattan, who is running to succeed Assembly Member Claire Valdez in the 37th District; David Orkin, who is running to primary Jenifer Rajkumar in the 38th; and Diana Moreno, who replaced Mamdani in the 36th District after winning a special election earlier in the year.
The mayor also marched alongside Brian Romero, a candidate he has endorsed in the 34th Assembly District who has not been endorsed by the DSA.
Mamdani also marched alongside Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, who he has not endorsed as she bids to primary State Sen. Jessica Ramos in the 13th Senate District.
Mamdani did, however, praise both González-Rojas and Romero for “always being there when everyone needs them.”
Valdez, who is running to succeed U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez in NY-7, was also present at Queens Pride before Mamdani joined her for a canvassing event in Greenpoint later on Sunday.
Moreno, meanwhile, described Queens Pride as a “beautiful and joyful” event but said it remained critical to stand with the trans community, who faced “unemployment, homelessness and discrimination.”
Moreno and Kawas also noted that Queens Pride was founded in 1993 in response to the murder of Julio Rivera in Jackson Heights.
“It was the first Pride parade in the city outside of Manhattan, and still the largest. I’m proud to call Queens my home and I’ll always fight to keep it a place where everyone belongs,” Kawas said on social media.