This essay is part of a series in which writers reflect on Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration as the mayor of New York City.  Illustration by Stuart Davis In less suspenseful years a mayoral election in New York City would be a purely local event, but in precarious 2025 it was a national and even international one as well. The United States is still, in all its potentially catastrophic disarray and decline, the most powerful geopolitical entity on earth. Any little fuse might be lit at any moment by our chaotic and supremely short-sighted government, and much of the world was watching beadily: While the loopy marauders in charge were busy stuffing themselves with burgers and stuffing their properties with hideous kitsch and their giant pockets with looted money, what were we—the residents of America’s preeminent city—planning to say about our own priorities? Mamdani’s youth, the naturalness of his demeanor, and his unassuming charm give his highly improbable victory an uncanny sheen, as if, in answer to a call, he simply rose in embryonic form up from …