The Irony Of History: Zohran Mamdani And Abe Beame

By Felicia J. Persaud

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Nov. 14, 2025: History, it seems, has a wicked sense of humor. On November 3, 2025, Ugandan-born Zohran Mamdani made history as New York City’s first South Asian, Africa, Uganda-born immigrant, Muslim, youngest, Democratic-Socialist mayor-elect in modern times – and the first immigrant since 1972 to become the Big Apple’s CEO.

Ironically, the last immigrant to do so was also a man whose identity stirred political and cultural fault lines of his time – Abraham David Beame, New York’s first Jewish mayor. And while Beame’s Jewish identity once symbolized immigrant perseverance, Mamdani’s African and Muslim roots have become targets for some Jews, who decry him as “antisemitic” for his vocal support of Palestinian human rights.

History, as always, loves a full circle.

Abraham David Beame, the first Jewish Mayor Of New York and an immigrant. (Photo by Paul Slade/Paris Match via Getty Images)

From London To The Lower East Side
Beame was born Abraham David Birnbaum in London in 1906 to Polish-Jewish immigrants who fled Russian pogroms. His parents, Philip and Esther Birnbaum, arrived in New York when he was just three months old. Raised on the Lower East Side, he was the embodiment of the immigrant dream – graduating from City College, co-founding an accounting firm, and teaching business law at Rutgers.

A meticulous numbers man, Beame served as New York’s budget director in the 1950s, where he earned a reputation for cutting waste and negotiating labor contracts without a single strike. His pragmatism was old-school – precise, cautious, unglamorous – a far cry from the swaggering political showmanship that would later define the city.

But Beame was also a product of the old Brooklyn Democratic machine – a “clubhouse” politician loyal to party bosses like Irwin Steingut and the Madison Democratic Club. Ironically, that same club, with members like fundraiser Abraham “Bunny” Lindenbaum, often liaised with real estate developers – including Fred Trump, father of Donald Trump. Politics, like history, has a way of tying strange knots.

The Fiscal Storm
When Beame finally won the mayoralty in 1973, he inherited the city’s worst fiscal crisis in history – a $1.5 billion deficit that nearly bankrupted New York.

He slashed payrolls, froze salaries, and begged Washington for help. President Gerald Ford initially refused, inspiring the immortal Daily News headline: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”

Yet, Beame persisted. With state help and eventual federal backing, he steadied the ship. When he left office in 1978, the city had a $200 million surplus. His tenure, though scarred by crisis, proved that immigrants, even those maligned or underestimated, could lead with discipline and grit when the city needed it most.

A New Immigrant Mayor For A New Era

New York City Mayor elect Zohran Mamdani meets with the press after he joined members of the Centro Islamico del Caribe -Masjid Ebadur Rahman mosque in prayer on November 7, 2025 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mamdani is in San Juan for the annual SOMOS political retreat an annual summit that brings New York politicians and lobbyists together for strategy meetings. (Photo by Angel Valentin/Getty Images)

Now, half a century later, Zohran Mamdani will step into City Hall on Jan. 1, 2026 under vastly different – yet strangely familiar – conditions. A Democratic Socialist, he faces federal skepticism, financial pressures, and the burden of being a symbol.

His rise marks a generational and ideological shift: from Beame’s immigrant modesty to Mamdani’s immigrant audacity – one rooted in global justice, anti-war activism, and economic equity. The same city that once questioned whether Jews belonged in the corridors of power now debates whether a Muslim from Uganda can lead it.

The irony is as thick as it is poetic. Both men, sons of immigrants fleeing oppression, rose to govern a city built by immigrants – and both faced backlash for who they are.

As Broadway’s Hamilton reminds us: “Immigrants, we get the job done.” And if history is any guide, Zohran Mamdani just might do exactly that. He already, after all, has come so far despite the doubters.

Felicia J. Persaud is the founder and publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, the only daily newswire and digital platform dedicated exclusively to Caribbean Diaspora and Black immigrant news across the Americas.