Latest news with #Queens
New York Times
40 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How the ‘Italian Fairy' Spends Her Day Teaching Children to Sing
Simona Rodano is dressed as a fairy, her petite white wings studded with sparkles. In this costume, Ms. Rodano, 53, has played the role of the Italian Fairy for years, bringing multilingual musical programs to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. 'Language,' she said, 'is a source and resource of dialogue and communication that connects different people, cultures and traditions, planting seeds for a better world.' Ms. Rodano, a singer and entertainer who has performed at Carnegie Hall, starred in a five-day-a-week variety television show in her native Italy, where she also recorded albums and had roles in numerous stage productions. After her 12-year run on TV ended in 2010, Ms. Rodano settled in Astoria, Queens. She began teaching Italian to Manhattan toddlers, and one father gave her the fairy nickname. 'For me, every day as the Italian Fairy is a performance,' Ms. Rodano said. 'I don't do it for the applause. I do it to inspire and uplift people. That's what drives me.' She lives in Astoria with her cat, Stellina, and her husband, Luigi Rosa, 53, who is an assistant vice president at Amtrak. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Many South Asians and Muslims in NYC and beyond electrified by Mamdani's mayoral primary triumph
The success of Zohran Mamdani in New York City's Democratic primary for mayor is euphoric for Hari Kondabolu, a stand-up comedian who's been friends with the candidate for 15 years. Mamdani stunned the political establishment when he declared victory in the primary on Tuesday, a ranked choice election in which his strongest competition, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat. When he launched his campaign, the unabashed democratic socialist ranked near the bottom of the pack. Now, the 33-year-old state assemblyman has a chance to be New York City's first Asian American and Muslim mayor. Mamdani's family came to the United States when he was 7, and he became a citizen in 2018. He was born to Indian parents in Kampala, Uganda. For Kondabolu, this moment is not just exciting, but emotional. 'I think so many of us have had those experiences in New York of being brown and in a city that has always been really diverse and feels like ours. But after 9/11, like you start to question it like, is this our city too,' Kondabolu said. 'And 25 years later ... it's surreal, like this is the same city but it's not because we've elected this person.' Mamdani's campaign has piqued the interest of many Indian, Pakistani and other South Asian Americans, as well as Muslims — even those who may not agree with Mamdani on every issue. Despite that opposition, some still see his rise as a sign of hope in a city where racism and xenophobia erupted following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. South Asians and Muslims riveted by primary in New York, and beyond Many of New York City's over 300,000 South Asian residents have been inspired by Mamdani's extraordinary trajectory. 'My mom was texting her friends to vote for him. I've never seen my mother do that before,' Kondabolu said. 'So the idea that it's gotten our whole family activated in this way — this is, like, personal.' Snigdha Sur, founder and CEO of The Juggernaut, an online publication reporting on South Asians, has been fascinated by the response from some people in India and the diaspora. 'So many global South Asians ... they're like, 'Oh, this guy is my mayor and I don't live in New York City,'' Sur said. At the same time, some are also concerned or angered by Mamdani's past remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he publicly called a 'war criminal.' In Michigan, Thasin Sardar has been following Mamdani's ascent online. When he first heard him, he struck him as 'genuine' and he felt 'an instant connection,' he said. 'As a Muslim American, this victory puts my trust back in the people,' said Sardar, who was born and raised in India. 'I am happy that there are people who value the candidate and his policies more than his personal religious beliefs and didn't vote him down because of the color of his skin, or the fact that he was an immigrant with an uncommon name.' New York voter Zainab Shabbir said family members in California, and beyond, have also excitedly taken note. 'My family in California, they were very much like, 'Oh, it's so nice to see a South Asian Muslim candidate be a mayor of a major city,'' she said. A brother told her Mamdani's rise is a great example for his kids, she said. But the 34-year-old — who donated, voted and canvassed for Mamdani — said it was his vision for New York City that was the draw for her. She and her husband briefly chatted with Mamdani at a fundraiser and she found him to be 'very friendly and genuine.' She suspects that for some who aren't very politically active, Mamdani's political ascent could make a difference. 'There's a lot of Muslim communities like my parents' generation who are focused a lot more on the politics back home and less on the politics here in America,' said Shabbir. 'Seeing people like Zohran Mamdani be in office, it'll really change that perspective in a lot of people.' Embracing Indian and Muslim roots Supporters and pundits agree that Mamdani's campaign has demonstrated social media savvy and authenticity. He visited multiple mosques. In videos, he speaks in Hindi or gives a touch of Bollywood. Other South Asian American politicians such as Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna praised that. 'I love that he didn't run away from his heritage. I mean, he did video clips with Amitabh Bachchan and Hindi movies,' Khanna said, referencing the Indian actor. 'He shows that one can embrace their roots and their heritage and yet succeed in American politics.' But his triumph also reflects 'the urgency of the economic message, the challenge that people are facing in terms of rent, in terms of the cost of living, and how speaking to that is so powerful,' the progressive California Democrat added. Tanzeela Rahman, a daughter of Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, said she grew up 'very low income' in New York. 'I felt seen by him in a way politicians have not seen me ever,' the 29-year-old financial systems analyst said. 'I think very few people in government understand … how hard it is to survive in New York City.' She found Mamdani to be 'unabashedly Muslim' and also 'a voice, who, literally, to me sounds like a New Yorker who's stepping in and saying, hey, let's reclaim our power,' she said. While Mamdani has been speaking to the working class, he had a somewhat privileged upbringing. His mother is filmmaker Mira Nair and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University. He lived in Queens but attended The Bronx High School of Science. Even as a teen, he cared about social justice, Kondabolu, the comedian, recalled. His campaign messaging on issues such as affordable housing and free bus rides might not resonate with South Asian households in New York City who have income levels above the median. But, the irony is that his campaign and 'great kind of soundbites' earned support from that demographic, too, according to Sur. 'It was, I think, a surprise that he did so well among the wealthiest, including his own community,' Sur said. Mamdani's outspoken support for Palestinian causes and criticism of Israel and its military campaign in Gaza resonated with pro-Palestinian residents, including Muslims, but caused tension in the mayor's race. Some of his positions and remarks on the charged issue have drawn recriminations from opponents and some Jewish groups, though he's also been endorsed by some Jewish politicians and activists. Racism and xenophobia Mamdani's success immediately elicited strong anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric from some high-profile conservatives on social media, including conservative media personality Charlie Kirk who posted that 'legal immigration can ruin your country.' In response, Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, tweeted 'For years they sold people the lie of 'we have no problem if you come the right way!'' His supporters aren't concerned that racism and Islamophobia will distract from Mamdani's campaign. Those feelings clearly weren't 'enough for him to lose' the primary, Kondabolu said. 'There's a new generation that wants their voice heard and that generation came out in full force, not just by voting, but by, like, getting all these other people to be emotionally invested in this candidate,' Kondabolu said. 'That's extraordinary.' ___ Associated Press writer Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Woman, 26, fights off rape attempt while waiting at Queens bus stop
Police are looking for a man who tried to rape a young woman as she was waiting at a bus stop early Friday morning in Queens, cops said. The 26-year-old woman was standing at a bus stop at the corner of Woodhaven Blvd. and Hoffman Dr. in Elmhurst around 4:30 a.m. when the suspect came up behind her and slapped her on the buttocks, a police source said. The attacker started to walk away but apparently changed his mind and suddenly turned around. He grabbed the victim and pinned her against a fence, lifted her skirt and tried to penetrate her with his penis, the source said. The brave young woman fought off her attacker, who then ran into the Woodhaven Blvd. subway station and fled. Police released images of the suspect captured on security footage. He is described as a tall, thin man with a dark complexion between 20 and 30 years old. He was last seen wearing blue headphones, a blue surgical mask, a black North Face jacket, light-wash camo pants and gray sneakers. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Many South Asians and Muslims in NYC and beyond electrified by Mamdani's mayoral primary triumph
The success of Zohran Mamdani in New York City's Democratic primary for mayor is euphoric for Hari Kondabolu, a stand-up comedian who's been friends with the candidate for 15 years. Mamdani stunned the political establishment when he declared victory in the primary on Tuesday, a ranked choice election in which his strongest competition, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat. When he launched his campaign, the unabashed democratic socialist ranked near the bottom of the pack. Now, the 33-year-old state assemblyman has a chance to be New York City's first Asian American and Muslim mayor. Mamdani's family came to the United States when he was 7, and he became a citizen in 2018. He was born to Indian parents in Kampala, Uganda. For Kondabolu, this moment is not just exciting, but emotional. 'I think so many of us have had those experiences in New York of being brown and in a city that has always been really diverse and feels like ours. But after 9/11, like you start to question it like, is this our city too,' Kondabolu said. 'And 25 years later ... it's surreal, like this is the same city but it's not because we've elected this person.' Mamdani's campaign has piqued the interest of many Indian, Pakistani and other South Asian Americans, as well as Muslims — even those who may not agree with Mamdani on every issue. Despite that opposition, some still see his rise as a sign of hope in a city where racism and xenophobia erupted following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. South Asians and Muslims riveted by primary in New York, and beyond Many of New York City's over 300,000 South Asian residents have been inspired by Mamdani's extraordinary trajectory. 'My mom was texting her friends to vote for him. I've never seen my mother do that before,' Kondabolu said. 'So the idea that it's gotten our whole family activated in this way — this is, like, personal.' Snigdha Sur, founder and CEO of The Juggernaut, an online publication reporting on South Asians, has been fascinated by the response from some people in India and the diaspora. 'So many global South Asians ... they're like, 'Oh, this guy is my mayor and I don't live in New York City,'' Sur said. At the same time, some are also concerned or angered by Mamdani's past remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he publicly called a 'war criminal.' In Michigan, Thasin Sardar has been following Mamdani's ascent online. When he first heard him, he struck him as 'genuine' and he felt 'an instant connection,' he said. 'As a Muslim American, this victory puts my trust back in the people,' said Sardar, who was born and raised in India. 'I am happy that there are people who value the candidate and his policies more than his personal religious beliefs and didn't vote him down because of the color of his skin, or the fact that he was an immigrant with an uncommon name.' New York voter Zainab Shabbir said family members in California, and beyond, have also excitedly taken note. 'My family in California, they were very much like, 'Oh, it's so nice to see a South Asian Muslim candidate be a mayor of a major city,'' she said. A brother told her Mamdani's rise is a great example for his kids, she said. But the 34-year-old — who donated, voted and canvassed for Mamdani — said it was his vision for New York City that was the draw for her. She and her husband briefly chatted with Mamdani at a fundraiser and she found him to be 'very friendly and genuine.' She suspects that for some who aren't very politically active, Mamdani's political ascent could make a difference. 'There's a lot of Muslim communities like my parents' generation who are focused a lot more on the politics back home and less on the politics here in America,' said Shabbir. 'Seeing people like Zohran Mamdani be in office, it'll really change that perspective in a lot of people.' Embracing Indian and Muslim roots Supporters and pundits agree that Mamdani's campaign has demonstrated social media savvy and authenticity. He visited multiple mosques. In videos, he speaks in Hindi or gives a touch of Bollywood. Other South Asian American politicians such as Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna praised that. 'I love that he didn't run away from his heritage. I mean, he did video clips with Amitabh Bachchan and Hindi movies,' Khanna said, referencing the Indian actor. 'He shows that one can embrace their roots and their heritage and yet succeed in American politics.' But his triumph also reflects 'the urgency of the economic message, the challenge that people are facing in terms of rent, in terms of the cost of living, and how speaking to that is so powerful,' the progressive California Democrat added. Tanzeela Rahman, a daughter of Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, said she grew up 'very low income' in New York. 'I felt seen by him in a way politicians have not seen me ever,' the 29-year-old financial systems analyst said. 'I think very few people in government understand … how hard it is to survive in New York City.' She found Mamdani to be 'unabashedly Muslim' and also 'a voice, who, literally, to me sounds like a New Yorker who's stepping in and saying, hey, let's reclaim our power,' she said. While Mamdani has been speaking to the working class, he had a somewhat privileged upbringing. His mother is filmmaker Mira Nair and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor at Columbia University. He lived in Queens but attended The Bronx High School of Science. Even as a teen, he cared about social justice, Kondabolu, the comedian, recalled. His campaign messaging on issues such as affordable housing and free bus rides might not resonate with South Asian households in New York City who have income levels above the median. But, the irony is that his campaign and 'great kind of soundbites' earned support from that demographic, too, according to Sur. 'It was, I think, a surprise that he did so well among the wealthiest, including his own community,' Sur said. Mamdani's outspoken support for Palestinian causes and criticism of Israel and its military campaign in Gaza resonated with pro-Palestinian residents, including Muslims, but caused tension in the mayor's race. Some of his positions and remarks on the charged issue have drawn recriminations from opponents and some Jewish groups, though he's also been endorsed by some Jewish politicians and activists. Racism and xenophobia Mamdani's success immediately elicited strong anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric from some high-profile conservatives on social media, including conservative media personality Charlie Kirk who posted that 'legal immigration can ruin your country.' In response, Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, tweeted 'For years they sold people the lie of 'we have no problem if you come the right way!'' His supporters aren't concerned that racism and Islamophobia will distract from Mamdani's campaign. Those feelings clearly weren't 'enough for him to lose' the primary, Kondabolu said. 'There's a new generation that wants their voice heard and that generation came out in full force, not just by voting, but by, like, getting all these other people to be emotionally invested in this candidate,' Kondabolu said. 'That's extraordinary.' ___ Associated Press writer Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Zohran Mamdani has struck a blow to the Democratic party's passivity
We're told that the Democratic party is at a crossroads, that leaders have lost their identity and their way. We're told that they must spend millions discovering their own 'Joe Rogan', or espouse deregulation, or surrender the fight for the rights of targeted minorities. The Democrats, we're told, are in a moment of soul searching, of trying to find out how they lost young men and the white working class. They're still thinking, half a decade on, of how to undo the supposed damage of the 2020 summer, when protesters opposed to the extrajudicial killings of Black civilians shouted: 'Defund the police.' The subtext of this handwringing, which has been incessant in the media and among party insiders since the November election, is that the party must move, yet again, to the right. It is presumed that they can't attract voters otherwise. The apparent victory (still unofficial because the counting won't technically be complete until July) of a 33-year-old socialist in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary this week suggests otherwise. Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblymember from Queens, was a little-known leftwing activist whose campaign against the former governor and New York household name Andrew Cuomo was polling in the single digits. But with immense personal charisma and a talent for retail politicking, airtight message discipline centered on making life affordable, and a small army of motivated young volunteers, Mamdani defeated a political dynasty, defied conventional wisdom, and is expected to win the American left its biggest electoral victory since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's primary coup in 2018. In the process, his campaign presented a new vision of the party: one that has energized voters with its authenticity and moral vision even as major donors and the party establishment have balked. The leaders of the Democratic establishment have long believed that the party's left flank was its greatest liability. Mamdani has proven that it can be an asset. Any responsible commentator will tell you that Mamdani's success in the New York mayoral primary will be difficult for other progressive candidates to replicate. The city's public campaign-funds matching program allowed the candidate to spend his time in highly visible public engagement with the people of New York – rather than on fundraising efforts among the rich. The ranked-choice voting system – still relatively new – incentivized him and the crowded other field of candidates to form a united front against Cuomo, and allowed Mamdani to capture the crucial endorsement of his fellow candidate Brad Lander, the beloved New York City comptroller. Mamdani, too, seems to have the kind of personal talent that is rare in any politician: a relaxed and personable demeanor, an uncommon gift for oratory, and a rhetoric of morality and dignity that appears not just plausibly authentic but genuinely inspiring, and is already drawing comparisons to liberal political giants like AOC and the young Barack Obama. Crucially, too, Mamdani is uncommonly disciplined: he avoided attacking the progressive liberals, like Lander and state senator Zellnor Myrie, who were slightly to his right, preferring to unite with them and recruit them into his movement, a gesture of pragmatic generosity that kept the field from turning into a circular firing squad. And he has a gravitas that most of us could not rise to, enduring cynical and often racist smears from Cuomo supporters, who called him antisemitic for his support of human rights for Palestinians with a calm dignity that emphasized his loyalty to all New Yorkers, Jewish or otherwise. All of this – his incentives, his talents – contributed to his victory. None will be easy to recreate in another race. And yet Mamdani's victory is a signal of a subterranean shift happening in the base of the Democratic party – the younger, more motivated, more active voters who the party leadership relies on but does not quite trust. The Democratic party's leaders – like Nancy Pelosi of California, but prominently including Mamdani's fellow New Yorkers Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries – have largely rolled over in the second Trump administration, failing to use either their procedural power or their public platforms to create leverage against the Maga agenda or advance an alternative vision for the country. Their passivity and risk aversion has stood in contrast to the mounting energy of their voters, whose anger at Trump's authoritarian ambitions, racist immigration policies and broader rollback of rights has sparked a growing protest movement. Energized liberal voters find that the Democratic politicians they elected to represent them are passive and complacent, even in the face of what they themselves correctly described, in 2024, as the ascent of a fascist movement. The party's rhetoric is not being matched by its actions, and its actions are not matching its voters' passions. Indeed, the party appears most energetic when it is crushing the ambitions of its charismatic younger members, as when it denied powerful committee positions to AOC and Texas's Jasmine Crockett. Establishment Democrats seem, if anything, as if they want to disappear, to be absolved of their responsibility to advance a political agenda of their own. This might be why they have fled, repeatedly, rightward, away from their own professed principles. This might be why they lined up, during the mayoral primary, behind Cuomo, the disgraced former governor whom many of them had called on to resign just four years ago his candidacy was a promise that their own structures of power and patronage would remain intact, that nothing much would change. Mamdani represented a threat to their own vision of a do-nothing political party. For that, they tried to crush him. You can only antagonize your own base for so long before they begin to notice. In a new poll conducted just days before Mamdani's upset victory, fully 62% of Democratic voters said that their party needs new leadership. Mamdani – youthful, energetic, and actually interested in governance – offers both a rebuke to the Democratic establishment and a vision of the party's renewal. It may be coming whether the Democratic National Committee likes it or not. Fed up with their useless, antagonist leadership and unwilling to give up on the prospect of progressive change, many members of the Democrats' hated base are certain to follow Mamdani's example, taking risks to challenge unpopular or ineffectual incumbents and entrenched local party machines. Since Bill Clinton's victory in 1992, the Democrats have been trying to reinvent themselves as a more conservative party, assuming that their future lay rightward. They were looking in the wrong direction. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist
