New York City

Di morning afta Zohran Mamdani win, New York City sky dey shine pink, and di street dey smell small like roasted chestnuts and diesel. E be like say di city dey hold im breath, no sure whether to exhale for relief or disbelief.

For one construction site near Northern Boulevard, four men dey lean for one half-built wall, dey sip coffee from paper cup. Dem dey talk about di only mata wey everybody dey yarn: Mamdani.

“No be big grammar,” Joe Dwyer, one foreman, tok. “I know say di guy na real. Today, I waka come work tired but happy.”

Luis Ortiz wey dey stand near am nod head. “I no believe say e go win,” e tok. “But dis one? Dis one dey different.”

Dem yarn about di way price of tins dey rise. When TRT World ask wetin Mamdani victory mean for dem, Dwyer smile. “E mean,” e tok slow slow, “we no dey invisible again.”

For Astoria, di vibe soft. Inside Farid’s Deli, di owner, Farid Khan, wey come from Lahore, Pakistan, pause as e dey tok. “Yesterday, I cry,” e tok. “I never vote before. I always think say my voice no big. But dis time, I see my brother dey stand up.”

Farid don dey run dis corner deli for years. E don see di city change face and flag. Di morning regulars dey waka enter: construction workers, nurses, postman, teacher. Everybody dey tok di same tin for different way. Hope dey feel new, heavy, and e dey deserved.

For every borough

One young woman dey wait outside di deli, scarf dey her neck, latte dey her hand. Leah Rosen, one social worker, tok say she vote for Mamdani because, “e dey talk about di city like say na community, no be business.”

Her papa and mama dey live for Long Island, dem be Democrats wey first dey doubt di name Zohran Mamdani. “Dem worry about im politics,” she tok, “but I tell dem, e dey talk about housing, fairness, peace. Dat one no be radical. Na humane.”

Outside, traffic dey move for Steinway Street. Person honk. Di city don wake again.

Mamdani win di New York City mayoral race well well, carry four out of five boroughs with 50.4 percent of di citywide vote against independent and billionaire-backed Andrew Cuomo wey get 41.6 percent and Republican Curtis Sliwa wey get 7.1 percent.

E scatter di vote for Brooklyn with 20 points, gather over 658,000 votes for dere, e strongest area. For di Bronx, e beat Cuomo by 11 points with about 223,000 votes, wey show say di working-class neighbourhoods dey support am.

Manhattan give am 10-point lead, with 522,000 votes, while Queens tight small with five points ahead and 504,000 votes, but e still manage flip am with 94 percent of di votes counted.

‘Like Eid morning’

By noon, small crowd don gather outside City Hall. No be di usual crowd wey dey fill victory square. Cleaners wey wear grey uniform, gig drivers wey get tired eye, and students wey get sticker for dia jacket wey read “NYC Won.”

Among dem, Amina Yusuf, one graduate student from Brooklyn, dey stand. “E dey feel like Eid morning,” she tok, dey laugh. “I dey waka light.” Her family come from Levant when she be pikin. Her papa drive taxi for 20 years.

“When di medallion crisis happen, I see as e break,” she tok. “But e still dey drive. So when Mamdani stand with di drivers, I feel say e dey stand for my papa.”

“We dey proud say e dey honest,” she tok.

Later for afternoon, I meet Eli Cohen for 31st Avenue. E dey born for Brooklyn and no too like politics. “I no dey vote for years,” e admit. “But dis guy show up, dey talk about small business like say e sabi our struggle.”

E tap di bench gently. “People dey talk about division. I no see am here. Muslims, Jews, everybody dey pay too much rent. Everybody don tire. Maybe dis guy fit fix one tin. Even one tin go be start.”

Overnight, Mamdani win big for di Black and Hispanic communities, gather 61 percent from Black voters (26-point win over Cuomo) and 57 percent from Hispanics (20 points up), wey help am win di Bronx and Queens.

E score 47 percent with Asians (four-point edge) and 38 percent with White New Yorkers. Renters, public transit people, young urban hustlers and progressives stand gidigba behind Mamdani.

‘A new era’

Places like Bedford-Stuyvesant for Brooklyn (77 percent for am, 57-point margin) and Harlem for Manhattan (71 percent, 45 points up) shine as im cultural stronghold, plus artsy Bushwick (82 percent, 67 points), family-friendly Park Slope (77 percent, 56), and di punky East Village (69 percent, 42).

Places like Crown Heights, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene follow, with margins over 40 points, show say e get pull for NYC left-leaning areas.

For Wednesday morning, for im first press conference since e win di mayoral race, Mamdani stand for front of camera and promise say e go “stand up for New York against President Trump,” and describe di start of “new era.”

E announce im transition team, wey go prepare for im term wey go start January 1, and tok say e go soon name di people wey go help oversee im agenda for government.

Mamdani also condemn “di sense wey dey grow” for United States say people fit dey break law anyhow. “Everybody must dey held accountable,” e tok.

Back for Queens, di words dey play for phone inside di deli. “Good,” Khan tok. “Finally, person dey talk straight.”