Mr. Mamdani's (New) Neighborhood

"From time to time, a piece of vocabulary comes along which the public didn't realize it was missing and soon enough can't live without. "Commie Corridor"-to designate the precincts of Queens and north Brooklyn overrun with youthful lefties-is one such phrase, a zippy addition to the city's lexicon of pop anthropology. Its sudden currency was the handiwork of Michael Lange, a twenty-five-year-old political analyst and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who used it in his Substack newsletter back in June, just as early voting in the Democratic primary began. Zohran Mamdani, Lange wrote, might just be able to win, if he could inspire staggering turnout in this "young and hungry" base; when Mamdani pulled it off, the New York Times published Lange's analysis, bringing the coinage to a wider readership."

"From the lawn of Gracie Mansion, the shores of the Commie Corridor are visible across the East River. Mamdani has said that he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, will leave their apartment in Astoria for the mayoral residence later this month. When they do, they'll be going from a stronghold of supporters to a place-the Upper East Side-that could reasonably be characterized as enemy territory. Yet even in Mamdani's new neighborhood it's possible to see a microcosm of the demographic trends that propelled him there."

A coined label, 'Commie Corridor,' identifies Queens and north Brooklyn precincts dense with youthful leftist activists. Michael Lange, a twenty-five-year-old political analyst and Democratic Socialists of America member, originated the phrase in a Substack piece during the Democratic primary and credited Zohran Mamdani's potential to win if he mobilized a 'young and hungry' base; the New York Times amplified the term after Mamdani's victory. Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, plan to move from Astoria to Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, moving from a supportive stronghold to a more hostile neighborhood. Local scenes and demographic patterns underline the political shifts that propelled him.

Read at The New Yorker