Since Zohran Mamdani burst onto the national political scene, he has been seen as a standard-bearer for the progressive movement: unwavering in his criticism of Israel, support for immigrants and calls for changes in policing.
This week underscored the challenge the New York City mayor faces in hewing to those deeply held beliefs and appeasing his political base while governing the nation's largest city. As he led New Yorkers through the third anniversary of Oct. 7 and responded to an ICE shooting in northern Manhattan, his staunch support from the left showed signs of fraying. At the same time, he faced a fresh round of criticism from Jewish leaders and an escalating standoff with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement.
"The transition from activist to executive is one of the toughest challenges in politics," said Democratic strategist and former state senator David Carlucci. "And we are seeing that firsthand."
In two extraordinary scenes, Mamdani was jeered by some of his supporters who have grown frustrated with his decisions in office and for not making good on certain campaign promises.
On Wednesday, the Democratic socialist mayor stood stoically at a vigil marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks as pro-Palestine protesters booed and called him a "traitor."
On Thursday night, as he briefed the public on the shooting during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, anti-ICE protesters chanted, "Mamdani is complicit."
The New York Police Department faced more criticism after video footage began circulating Thursday night showing officers knocking anti-ICE demonstrators to the ground. Among them was Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, a close Mamdani ally. Some of his supporters are angry with the mayor for not fulfilling a promise to disband a NYPD unit that responds to protests.
Avila Chevalier released a statement calling for the abolition of the NYPD's protest unit and for New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to step down. "The NYPD spent more time protecting a militia that just shot someone than protecting New Yorkers," she said.
A mayoral spokeswoman said Tisch remains the police commissioner and there were no plans to change that. The Mamdani administration was reviewing the NYPD's response to the shooting and was looking into "every action the city can take to protect New Yorkers," she said.
An NYPD spokesman said the protest unit, known as the Strategic Response Group, didn't respond to the ICE protests. Rather it was regular uniformed officers.
Mamdani has so far brushed off the discontent from the left. "I'm the mayor of New York City and this is what I signed up for," he said Thursday when asked about the Oct. 7 protests.
Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said the group's members still see the mayor as a partner but are ready to hold him accountable to his campaign promises.
"This week was indicative of some restiveness and a desire among the base to see concrete policy for Palestinian liberation and quicker progress on some policing promises," said Gordillo.
The cordial relationship Mamdani has fostered with the Trump administration also seemed at risk of unraveling. Mamdani said at the Thursday press conference that immigration officers surrounded Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic with a criminal record, while he was in a car with a 5-year-old child and then fired. The child wasn't harmed, he said.
He called the shooting an "unconscionable and incredibly serious situation." He said ICE should be abolished, calling it "rotten to its core."
On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin fired back, saying the city's so-called sanctuary city policies limit cooperation with ICE and put the community in danger. "It's shameful you have a mayor who goes out there and puts criminals over law-abiding citizens," Mullin said.
The growing anger from the left highlights how Mamdani's beliefs are sometimes at odds with his role in maintaining public safety.
Since he campaigned for mayor, Mamdani has been unapologetic in his denunciation of Israel over its war in Gaza -- a stance he and other progressive candidates have used to rally their most loyal supporters. He is also now tasked with protecting the largest Jewish community of any region outside of Israel. While he has repeatedly condemned acts of antisemitism, Jewish leaders say his rhetoric has jeopardized the safety of their community.
On the Oct. 7 anniversary, Mamdani released a statement condemning Hamas for committing war crimes but also accusing the Israeli government of a "devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza." Some Jewish groups said the Democratic mayor's remarks gave short shrift to the suffering of Israelis and risked inciting hatred against Jews by focusing on the devastation that followed in the war.
Protesters outside a vigil the mayor attended to remember the Israeli and Palestinian dead expressed frustration he hadn't used his seat to do more to advance the Palestinian cause and make changes to how pro-Palestinian protests are policed.
In an interview, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, president of the New York Board of Rabbis, criticized the mayor for his efforts to appease both sides. "What is surprising is if the mayor thought that somehow he could walk between the raindrops," Hirsch said. "There is no middle ground between those who want to destroy Israel and those who want Israel to survive."
Mamdani also campaigned on a promise to change policing, including moving the role of responding to mental-health crises to a new department. But some of his supporters and protesters have criticized him for being slow to implement changes and for not having disbanded the NYPD's Strategic Response Group, which has been accused in the past of aggressive tactics.
This week, Mamdani said that he remains committed to eliminating the unit and decoupling response to protests from counterterrorism. "It is something that is a priority, has been a priority, and we will have more to share soon," Mamdani said.
Many of his supporters have urged him to jettison Tisch, his police commissioner, saying her tough-on-crime policies target low-income New Yorkers. Mamdani retained Tisch, a well-regarded civil servant who also served in the previous administration. Crime has continued to decrease since Mamdani took office, hitting record lows in shootings and murders.
Previous mayors have wrestled with the NYPD, leading to fights that have weighed down their administrations, said Amit Singh Bagga, a Democratic strategist who previously worked for former Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Mamdani thus far seems to have successfully maintained his focus on making New York affordable, he said.
"For mayors, it's always been more about contending with, rather than controlling the NYPD," said Bagga. Mamdani has navigated between the demands of his base and the police force "with far greater skill than might've been expected, creating the room he needs to make progress on housing, consumer and worker protection, and affordability," he added.