New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani refused to speak Hindi during a street interview, claiming his command over the language is not good enough. The incident occurred when Mamdani, 34, ran into content creator Feroz Khan Zadran while walking around New York City with his team.
Zadran, who has cultivated a strong Instagram following by interviewing people from the subcontinent, stopped Mamdani by complimenting his outfit and asked him what he does for a living.
“I’m the mayor-elect. I’m working to make New York City affordable,” Mamdani told him with a big smile. The Indian-origin Democrat socialist then introduced the two people walking with him as his team members — Elle Bisgaard-Church, his longtime adviser who was named chief of staff, and Dean Fuleihan, his deputy mayor.
Zohran Mamdani’s life advice
Influencer Feroz Zadran closed the vox pop by asking Mamdani how many languages he can speak. Mamdani, son of Bollywood director Mira Nair, said that he could speak Hindi and Urdu along with English.
However, when asked to give a piece of advice in Hindi, he demurred.
“My Hindi isn’t good enough to do that,” Mamdani said, laughing. “But I can tell you in English – no matter what you do, make sure you can recognize yourself in the mirror,” he added.
Watch the street interview here.
Who are Dean Fuleihan and Elle Bisgaard-Church?
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has appointed two key members to his upcoming administration — Dean Fuleihan and Elle Bisgaard-Church.
Dean Fuleihan, 74, will serve as Mamdani’s first deputy mayor. A veteran budget official, Fuleihan brings over 40 years of government experience to the job. He previously worked as budget director and deputy mayor under former Mayor Bill de Blasio and spent many years handling budget and policy matters in the state Legislature in Albany.
His appointment adds significant experience and stability to Mamdani’s new administration, which has faced questions about the feasibility of its ambitious agenda.
Elle Bisgaard-Church, who worked as a senior adviser on Mamdani’s campaign and as his chief of staff in the state Assembly, will now become his City Hall chief of staff.
At a news conference, Mamdani said he hopes to “create a new City Hall” that balances innovation with experience. “It is important when we are undertaking the work of transforming politics in our city, that we do so both with a relentless imagination as to what politics could be, and a fluency of what politics has been,” he said. “And what I so appreciate about both of those standing next to me is that they have displayed those two skills in spades.”
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