“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate,” Mamdani, 34, told the crowd at his election night rally. “I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim, I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this.”
He continued: “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change.”
However, despite his impressive victory, there are rumours that Zohran Mamdani will never actually become the 111th mayor of New York.
Hortenstine stumbled on the detail while researching ties between past city leaders and the slave trade. His findings, which have now been backed by other historians and several historical organizations, indicate that Matthias Nicolls, officially listed as the city’s sixth mayor, actually served two nonconsecutive terms. Nicolls, whose family settled in Long Island in the 1600s, held the office once in 1672 and again in 1675.
Just like with presidents who serve nonconsecutive terms, Nicolls’ return to office should have been counted twice.
His second stint was recorded only in the archive of Edmund Andros, New York’s colonial governor, which is why it was overlooked. By that logic, Mamdani would actually be the 112th mayor, not the 111th, with every mayor after the sixth off by one.
Hortenstine has since reached out to the mayor’s office to request a correction, noting, “This was in 1675,” and adding, “So then, when I later looked through the official list of the city, I noticed that they had missed this term.”
