On August 16th, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, posted a short video on social media platform X. The video, which is about 31 seconds long, was in Mandarin and promoted the free Broadway tickets lottery for high school students in New York City, attracting attention.
In the video, Mamdani smiled and introduced the event in Mandarin. At the end, she enthusiastically said in Chinese, "See you at the performance venue!" She guided the audience to visit the relevant government page to register. This casual attempt quickly spread online.
This promotion is aimed at the Broadway Free Tickets Raffle program launched in collaboration between the New York City government and the Theatre Development Fund (TDF). High school students in New York City can sign up through the official website by August 17th to have the chance of receiving more than 2,000 free Broadway tickets. These tickets are for seven popular plays, including “Buenos Aires Social Club,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Haunted House: The First Shade.” All students who sign up will automatically receive a two-month TDF membership, which grants them discounts on tickets for performances such as Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well as free admission to many cultural institutions.
Mamdani previously said, “People from all over the world come to New York to experience Broadway. Children who grow up here should also have the same opportunity.” He called this action “a fair way to treat children who are involved in theater.”
From the video, it can be seen that Mamdani's Mandarin is at an introductory level. Her pronunciation has a noticeable accent, and her sentences are short, but her attitude is friendly and her expressions are clear. Overall, her performance is sufficient to complete the promotional task.
As a South Asian Muslim born in Uganda, Mamdani's mother tongue is closer to Hindi and Urdu. During his campaign, he used these languages to communicate with voters on many occasions. His recent attempt to speak Mandarin is seen as an extension of his multilingual outreach strategy, aimed at further narrowing the gap between him and the large Chinese community in New York, especially among the younger generation.
Many American netizens admire the mayor for “daring to speak Chinese”, believing that such a down-to-earth approach is more engaging than perfect pronunciation. Some also jokingly say, “Chinese proficiency is average, but the sincerity is beyond reproach.”
Currently, the lottery activity is still ongoing, and the final list of winners will be announced on September 1st.
