Zohran Mamdani declares only $2,000 in bank in latest disclosure
That's despite his privileged upbringing and family money — and an annual salary of $131,000 as a state lawmaker, a job he's had for five years.
9 Mamdani, here celebrating his recent primary win with his parents, had by all accounts a privileged upbringing.
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The 33-year-old socialist Democratic nominee for NYC mayor did list one unusual asset — four acres of land in his native Uganda that he acquired about a decade ago, worth between $150,000 and $250,000.
He disclosed no US property or investments on the documents, released by the state this week.
The $2,000 on his form comes from a retirement plan from the housing-focused social-justice organization Chhaya, where he worked briefly as a 'foreclosure prevention counselor' in 2019, before he was elected in 2020 to represent Queen's 36th District in the state Assembly.
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9 Mamdani lived in Kampala, Uganda until he was five, before the family moved to South Africa, and two years later NYC.
Adrian Solumsmo – stock.adobe.com
He's declared the exact same amount of 'less than $2,000' for five years in a row in filings to the state Legislative Ethics Commission.
'More drama from a guy who grew up with three silver spoons in his mouth,' quipped political strategist Hank Sheinkopf.
'If anybody believes that Mamdani is a poor person, they need to see a psychiatrist. This is a complete lie. He's trying to sell people this nonsense that he's this poor kid,' he told The Post.
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9 Mamdani lives in a rent-stabilized apartment and grew up in subsidized housing but complained about rent hikes.
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State lawmakers are only required to report investments and retirement plans, and don't have to disclose how much they have in regular savings or checking accounts.
They are also not required to reveal trust funds established by their relatives — and in Mamdani's case that could be a windfall, observers have noted.
9 Mamdani attended the Disney premiere with his mother Mira Nair in 2016.
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9 Nair directed Disney's Queen of Katwe, a story about a girl from the slums of Uganda who becomes a chess champion.
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Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker, who has made movies for Disney and a series for Netflix, and whose productions have starred the likes of Denzel Washington.
Nair sold a posh West Chelsea 2-bedroom that she had owned for more than 10 years in 2019 for $1.45 million.
9 Nair has received multiple awards for her films.
Getty Images for Disney
His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a chaired professor of African history and colonialism at Columbia University who won multiple prizes and published more than a dozen books.
Professors in similar positions make an average of $308,000 a year, according to American Association of University Professors data.
The Harvard-educated couple still live in the stylish Ivy League and taxpayer-subsidized 3-bed, 3-bath corner apartment on Riverside Drive — with weekly maid service — where Mamdani grew up while he attended elite $66,000-a-year Bank Street School.
'This is all nonsense and an attempt to show that he's a man of the people when he's about as close to the people as Nelson Rockefeller was,' said Sheinkopf.
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9 The complex on Riverside Drive has 38 apartments, exclusively for Columbia faculty and staff.
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9 The family has lived in this bright 3-bedroom corner unit in upper Manhattan for 25 years.
via Zillow
Critics pointed to Mamdani's recently resurfaced hand-eating stunt as proof of the 'tax the rich' socialist trying to sell his narrative.
'A perpetual theatre kid who's pretending to be 'Third World.' It's all so, so performative + stupid,' railed Manhattan Institute fellow Renu Mukherjee on X.
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'He looks uncomfortable eating with his hands,' she noted.
Mamdani was a self-described 'B-list rapper,' performing under the stage name 'Mr. Cardamom' before he went into politics.
9 Mamdani had a stint as a rapper under the moniker Mr. Cardamom before he went into politics.
Mr. Cardamom/Youtube
He also sometimes went by the moniker 'Young Cardamom,' like in the song '#1 spice' that was part of the soundtrack for his mother's Disney movie.
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The former rapper turned politician disclosed up to $5,000 in royalties in 2024 from his musical stint.
Mamdani's office declined to comment.
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"There's an awful lot of local goodwill that I try and cultivate." ____ Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached atkhardy@ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
