
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has sparked widespread discussion by speaking in Bangla, Mandarin, and Spanish to promote a free theater ticket initiative for the city's school students. Social media users have been captivated by his multilingual proficiency.
International media outlet The Independent reported this news.
As part of the initiative, 2,100 free theater tickets are being distributed to New York high school students. Selected students through a lottery system will receive up to two tickets each. Mamdani released promotional videos in multiple languages to publicize the campaign.
He initially released a video in Spanish before surprising audiences by speaking in Mandarin. However, his video in Bengali generated the most attention.
At the beginning of the video, Mamdani says, "How are you, New York City high school students?" After delivering his entire message in Bengali, he concludes by saying, "Alright, then see you at the theater."
Bengali-speaking residents of New York, alongside people from various countries, have reacted enthusiastically to the video. Many praised his Bengali pronunciation, with one user jokingly remarking that Mamdani seems to be collecting languages one by one.
Mamdani was born in Uganda during his childhood, spent time in South Africa, and moved to New York at the age of seven. Throughout his political career, he has previously communicated with voters in various languages, including Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu.
Mamdani’s multilingual campaign has generated a tremendous response among New York's diverse, language-speaking communities.




