{"id":158789,"date":"2026-03-10T03:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158789\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T03:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T03:04:34","slug":"mamdani-faces-political-test-in-fallout-from-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/158789\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani faces political test in fallout from protests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani <a href=\"https:\/\/ny1.com\/nyc\/all-boroughs\/news\/2026\/03\/09\/gracie-mansion-protest-explosives-isis-inspired-terrorism-officials-say-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">forcefully denounced<\/a> the events that transpired over the weekend outside Gracie Mansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew York City will never tolerate violence, whether from protests or counterprotests,&#8221; he said Monday.<\/p>\n<p>What You Need To Know<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u00a0forcefully denounced\u00a0the events that transpired over the weekend outside Gracie Mansion<br \/>\n<br \/>The violent clashes between anti-Muslim protesters and counterprotesters, allegedly armed with improvised explosive devices, are emerging as a big leadership test for Mamdani<br \/>\n<br \/>Despite the fallout, Mamdani still defended the right to protest<\/p>\n<p>The violent clashes between anti-Muslim protesters and counterprotesters, allegedly armed with improvised explosive devices, are emerging as a big leadership test for Mamdani.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to commend the officers who were on site. They faced a chaotic situation that very quickly could\u2019ve become far more dangerous. NYPD Chief Aaron Edwards and Seargant Luis Navarro ran toward danger so others could run to safety,&#8221; the mayor said.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor and police commissioner presented a united front on Monday morning at Gracie Manson. Mamdani even personally thanked the two police officers who apprehended the suspects who allegedly deployed the bombs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the public, even though some people may still have some mixed feelings about Mamdani in such a close election, [knows] the police department is in good hands,&#8221;\u00a0Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said.<\/p>\n<p>She said Mamdani\u2019s calculated approach to the situation seems to be faring well \u2014 especially his support of the NYPD.<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani, in the past, has been critical of the police department\u2019s handling of protests.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gelinas noted that the mayor, who took a day to put out an initial response to the protests, is still within his first 100 days in office.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a new mayor. He\u2019s learning on the job. Those are more not so serious flaws. I think they did a pretty good job today explaining the arrests,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>As the investigation continues, Gov. Kathy Hochul says the state is helping keep the city safe, including state police increasing their patrols at sensitive sites and more than 1,000 National Guard deployed at transit locations across the five boroughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cViolence inspired by hate is intolerable. It&#8217;s not who we are as New Yorkers,\u201d Hochul said at an unrelated press conference on Monday. \u201cLet\u2019s be clear also: the Islamophobic protest that triggered all this is abhorrent. It&#8217;s against our values as New Yorkers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mamdani said he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, weren\u2019t home on Saturday. They were at the New York City Sign Museum in Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite the fallout, Mamdani still defended the right to protest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen. Ours is a free society where the right to peaceful protest is sacred. It does not belong only to those we agree with. It belongs to everyone,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani forcefully denounced the events that transpired over the weekend outside Gracie Mansion.\u00a0 \u201cNew York City&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[109,25,6348,9,24,55,54,12,56,108,87,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-158789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-app-local-state-politics","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-kelly-mena","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-city-news","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-ny-state-of-politics-blog","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}