Here is why Mamdani is leading in NYC. A recent NYC invasion by foreigners is why Mamdani is leading there:

Recent polling confirms that a majority of Zohran Mamdani's supporters in the 2025 New York City mayoral race are foreign-born. According to a Patriot Polling survey conducted October 18-19, 2025 (n=715 registered voters, ±3% margin of error), Mamdani holds 62% support among foreign born voters compared to 31% among native born voters.

His overall support is 43%, which implies that approximately 56% of his total voter base comes from foreign born New Yorkers (based on solving for the foreign born share of the electorate at ~39%, consistent with Census estimates of ~37% foreign-born in NYC's adult population). This dominance in foreign born communities is echoed in primary election analysis, where Mamdani outperformed Andrew Cuomo by 6.9 percentage points in neighborhoods where over 50% of residents are foreign-born (representing 11.4% of total primary votes).