As Zohran Mamdani took the stage for his victory speech Tuesday night, the staff at Kabab King paused to listen. They recorded his speech and listened to his every word. The dining cutlery that was clanking away just moments before fell silent.
“New York City, breathe this moment in,” Mamdani said.
Locals had flocked to the mayor-elect’s go-to biryani spot in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens hoping that he might show up — he has made the venue a frequent campaign stop — or just to celebrate the longtime neighborhood institution where biryani and kebabs are on virtually every table.
“Most people think this is a hole in the wall, but he comes here,” says Lakshmi Shubha, a Roosevelt Island resident, who came to Kabab King with two of her friends.
Shortly after being elected New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, Mamdani gave a speech in neighboring Brooklyn heavy on the biography on which he campaigned and the homages he has long given to his roots.
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