I Tried to Report on Mamdani’s Big Rally. Security Escorted Me Out

Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s likely next mayor, has built his campaign on accessibility to, and commonality with, everyday New Yorkers—something that Senator Bernie Sanders emphasized at the candidate’s eleventh-hour rally in Forest Hills, Queens with Mamdani, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a host of other Democratic-Socialist notables. 

Mamdani’s populist openness, however, made for a jarring disconnect with what I experienced on Sunday evening. When I arrived at the event to report, I was told that my valid ticket had been “cancelled.” I was barred from entering and told that I’d be escorted out by security, even as I identified myself as a member of the press. 

The incident, combined with the Mamdani campaign’s refusal to engage with my prior outreach, raises questions about the candidate’s commitment to transparency. Will a Mayor Mamdani deny access to reporters who disagree with him? 

I arrived at the scene 20 minutes before the rally was set to commence. Plenty of people were still entering Forest Hills Stadium, where the rally would be held, ushered through by staff wearing Mamdani t-shirts who scanned would-be attendees’ QR codes. 

But as I approached to scan my ticket, I was told “the ticket had already been scanned.” This made no sense—as the friend I came with witnessed, I had just arrived and had not shared the ticket with anyone else. 

After a back-and-forth with the event staff, I offered my state-issued ID and later requested to speak to a supervisor. Then the story changed: my ticket was “cancelled,” they said, and I would have to be escorted out by a security guard. 

I told the staff that I was a member of the press and needed to report on the rally. That did not appear to move them. Nor was I given the option to talk with anyone else. They forced me out, while thousands of New Yorkers—including my friend—went into a public event for the city’s likely next chief executive. 

I can only speculate as to why my ticket was cancelled, and whether it was deliberate or a genuine error. The Mamdani campaign did not respond to my request for comment. But it’s part of a broader pattern of behavior in how the campaign has treated City Journal in recent weeks—a lack of cooperation that drove me to secure a general-admission ticket, rather than a press pass, in the first place. 

In reporting on the campaign, I have tried to represent Mamdani’s views accurately. Not once has the campaign responded to any of my numerous requests for comment. Nor has the campaign shared its public schedule at any point for reporting purposes. 

In my recent piece on all three mayoral campaigns—in which I tried to give each major candidate equal air time—I had access to both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. The Mamdani campaign did not give me the time of day. 

I am just one reporter. But this silence—culminating in what may have been deliberate exclusion on Sunday night—raises questions about Mamdani’s willingness to engage with those he perceives as disagreeing with him. These concerns are especially pressing given that, if polling numbers hold up, Mamdani could be the first New York mayor in decades elected without majority support.

Informed criticism of any government executive is essential to a functioning democracy. It helps an administration correct course when things go wrong. And it ensures that large swathes of the city—whether it be working-class New Yorkers, business owners, or small property owners—don’t see their concerns ignored.

My hope is that the rally experience was an error that will be swiftly corrected. My fear is that it wasn’t—and that it bodes ill for Mamdani’s willingness to listen to those outside his tent.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images