WASHINGTON <\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic frontrunner in New York City\u2019s mayoral race, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge before sunrise Monday in a symbolic gesture to mark what he called a \u201cnew day\u201d for the city ahead of polls opening on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by supporters carrying a banner saying \u201cOur Time is Now,\u201d Mamdani led the early morning march from the outer borough of Brooklyn to City Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis walk reflects the story of the movement that we have built over this last year. Just like this campaign when we launched on October 23 over a year ago, I began with only a few people by my side, but the banner we carried told a story that we have always known to be true, even when we were polling at 1%, (that) our time is now,\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet City Hall, with our compassion, our conviction and our clarity, be the light that our city and our nation so desperately need,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
‘Impossible for working people to live lives of dignity’<\/p>\n
Mamdani also addressed President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement of his main rival, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrew Cuomo received Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement \u2014 if elected as mayor, our city will only descend deeper into a darkness that has forced too many of our neighbors to flee and made it impossible for working people to live lives of dignity,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
In a Sunday television interview, Trump said that he would back Cuomo, saying, \u201cIf it\u2019s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I\u2019m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani, an avowed socialist, does not endorse key pillars of communism, such as a centrally controlled economy and the abolition of market forces.<\/p>\n
Obama phone call<\/p>\n
On a supportive weekend phone call from former President Barack Obama, Mamdani also said he appreciated Obama\u2019s \u201csupport for the movement that we have created\u201d and \u201cthe importance that he shared about the vision that we have and the fact that we have to deliver that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI also shared with him that it was his (2008) speech of A More Perfect Union all those years ago that was in part the inspiration for the speech that I shared outside of the mosque not too many Fridays ago,\u201d Mamdani told reporters. \u201cI appreciated his words. I appreciated his time.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to numerous media outlets, Obama called Mamdani on Saturday, praising his campaign and offering to serve as a \u201csounding board\u201d in the future. The roughly 30-minute private call \u2014 their second conversation since the June Democratic primary \u2014 focused on the challenges of building a new administration and delivering on Mamdani\u2019s affordability agenda, it reported.<\/p>\n
According to the latest RealClearPolitics poll average, Mamdani leads the race with 45.8%, holding a 14.7-point advantage over independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, who stands at 31.1%, and a 28.5-point lead over Republican Curtis Sliwa at 17.3%.<\/p>\n
If Mamdani wins, he would become the first Muslim and first South Asian mayor of America’s largest city. He defeated Cuomo for the Democratic nomination in June, winning by a significant seven-point margin.<\/p>\n