Zohran Mamdani

No, Zohran's is not where you get a bagel with thin-sliced lox, or with a schmear of cream cheese on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. That's Zabar's!

If after 4 years you don't learn this, can't say or spell Zoh-ran Mam-dan-i's name, then it will be because you moved to Canada, or Greenland. Which is exactly why you won't move to Canada or Greenland. No bagels. A Tim Horton donut is no substitute. If you don't live in New York, you can't say you live there. And your Aggravated Badge of Courage (ABC) will fall off.

New Yorkers wear their ABC proudly. There is nothing not to complain about. Everyone has a gripe. The epithet (I've learned to spell it) that will be thrown at Mamdani for the next 4 years, is "Zohran the Commie." Doesn't rhyme. "Mamdani the Commie" will gain traction, fair or not.

Whatever derisive couplet is used, it can't compare with the anti-Edward Koch slogan that was thrown at him by a segment of the population that claimed in 1977 when Koch was running against Mario Cuomo (Andrew's father) during the Democratic primary that one should, "Vote for Cuomo, not the homo." You have to be my age to remember that. 

What Zohran will learn even before he is sworn in is that 50% of the people already don't like you,  those that didn't vote for you. Eventually, as his term in office gains some momentum, a 50% approval rating would be historic, because the 50% that don't like you will be swollen a bit from the 50% who thought they liked you, at least until there's more to complain about. 

Zohran has already declined to name a bagel order. He says he will continue to enjoy his "pink chai" tea, a mixture of green tea, baking soda, cardamon, rose water and milk that he gets from his favorite Halal store in Queens.

Those old enough to know this, will offer Zohran's liking for anything pink as proof that Zohran is a "pinko- Commie," a term popularized in the 50s to denote a Communist sympathizer and not an actual "card-carrying member" of the Communist Party, pink being a lighter shade of red. My wife will forever call the New York Times "that pinko-Commie rag" because that's what her father called it because the Times of the 30s. 40s and 50s was seen to be in bed with Russia because of their Moscow bureau chief's sympathetic reporter, Walter Duranty. (Look it up.)

No mayor of New York ever has it easy. They have to find their own ways to relax as best they can. Since Mamdani's family is from Uganda, we are likely to get a travelogue from his trips back there. He already has visited.

There are very some very accomplished Ugandan runners. Stephen Kiprotich won the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics. But if a Ugandan wins the New York City marathon rather than a Kenyan now that there is a Ugandan-born mayor, well Draft Kings may say the race was fixed. It will be Zohran's first kerfuffle.

http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com