Before Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America, there were Vito Marcantonio and the American Labor Party.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s 112th mayor and a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has shown no signs of wavering in his commitment to socialism. In his inaugural address, he proudly proclaimed that he would “govern as a democratic socialist.” Mamdani’s win follows other recent Big Apple victories for DSA members and DSA-friendly politicians, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and State Senator Julia Salazar.
This isn’t New York City’s first dance with socialists. Though few readers may remember Vito Marcantonio and the American Labor Party, they were—like Mamdani and the DSA today—a force to be reckoned with in 1930s and 1940s New York.
