Representative Nydia M. Velázquez has a word of warning for Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor she just helped to elect: Back off city politics.
Tension has quietly been growing between the two Democratic allies for weeks over who should succeed Ms. Velázquez in Congress as she retires after 32 years representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
But Ms. Velázquez pushed it into the open on Thursday in an interview with The New York Times, when she formally endorsed Antonio Reynoso, the progressive Brooklyn borough president, as her successor, and cautioned the new mayor that his decision to campaign for Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, a fellow democratic socialist, could drive a wedge through the coalition that put him in office.
“Honeymoons are short, and people need to pay attention to the work at hand,” she said, when asked if she had any advice for Mr. Mamdani.
“Primaries sometimes can be a distraction from the work that you need to do,” she added, arguing that the mayor’s involvement “opens up fights” among groups he needs to govern.
Ms. Velázquez, 72, indicated there was more she would leave unsaid for now.
“I’m trying to be respectful,” she said.
The growing distance between the congresswoman and Mr. Mamdani, 34, just two weeks into his term was striking after an almost yearlong partnership that began when Ms. Velázquez became the first member of Congress to back Mr. Mamdani’s long-shot campaign for mayor.
She used her stature as a respected elder stateswoman of the left to vouch for the little-known assemblyman and helped him stitch together a coalition of traditional progressives and ascendant democratic socialists. He, in turn, has called her “an inspiration.”
Mr. Mamdani certainly has good reasons for urging Ms. Valdez to run and endorsing her campaign. He has praised her record as a union organizer and lawmaker, and he is motivated to use his own success last November to help democratic socialists expand their foothold in local and congressional offices.
But the dispute with Ms. Velázquez also underscores the risks of his approach and demonstrates why many of Mr. Mamdani’s predecessors have steered clear of intraparty clashes once in office.
Mr. Mamdani’s active political maneuvering has been notable. Since winning in November, he has already intervened to clear the field for another ally, Brad Lander, to challenge Representative Daniel Goldman in a Democratic primary for a Brooklyn and Manhattan House seat. He also worked to quash a potential primary challenge by Chi Ossé, a City Council ally, against Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader.
The primary race between Mr. Reynoso and Ms. Valdez in New York’s Seventh District, though, has emerged as perhaps the most painful for the left, in part because of the candidates’ similarities. Both are well-liked and share commitments to strengthening workers’ rights, opposing the Trump administration and taxing the rich.
Mr. Reynoso, 42, who is not a democratic socialist, is supported by left-leaning advocacy groups like Make the Road Action and New York Communities for Change, as well as by Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate. All of them backed Mr. Mamdani in the mayor’s race.
In addition to Mr. Mamdani, Ms. Valdez, 36, has the support of her former union, the United Auto Workers. And while both candidates asked the Democratic Socialists of America for its backing at a forum Wednesday night, Ms. Valdez is widely expected to get the group’s nod.
In the interview, Ms. Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected in Congress, said that she had not initially planned to support a particular successor. She assumed that one of a half-dozen or so younger lawmakers she had mentored would easily clear the field — without any interference from the mayor.
But after Mr. Mamdani made it clear he would intervene to support a candidate outside her cadre, the congresswoman she said she could no longer stay on the sidelines.
“For me, this is personal — this is a district that we went to court to fight for,” she said, referring to the district’s formation three decades ago to give Latinos a greater say in Congress.
“I am supporting Antonio because I know him,” she added. “I know his heart. I know his record, and I know he is the only one in this race who has actually governed and delivered for this community.”
The congresswoman pointed to Mr. Reynoso’s childhood experiences receiving food stamps and Section 8 federal housing support. She also praised him for helping dethrone Brooklyn’s Democratic machine as a young politician.
As for Ms. Valdez, who moved to New York from Texas a decade ago and took office last January, Ms. Velázquez said: “She’s been in office for 11 months now. I really don’t know her.” The congresswoman later questioned whether the candidate even would know her way around the entirety of the district.
Ms. Velázquez had similarly biting words for some members of the Democratic Socialists of America, which counts many young city transplants like Ms. Valdez among its ranks.
“It’s very nice to get to New York for a few years and to have opinions about other elected officials without knowing the history and the struggle and who was there fighting corrupt government,” she said. “Now, all of the sudden, people want to come in and decide who is the best candidate with total disregard to the history, the background.”
The congresswoman is set to appear with Mr. Reynoso at a rally on Saturday and said she would campaign hard to try to ensure his victory in the June primary.
In a statement, Mr. Reynoso praised Ms. Velázquez as “a legend and an icon,” saying he would be honored to carry on her approach in Congress. (Ms. Valdez has also praised Ms. Velázquez extensively and made similar commitments.)
Ms. Velázquez and Mr. Mamdani are also at odds over who should succeed the mayor in representing his former Queens Assembly district, which, like Ms. Velázquez’s, includes Long Island City and parts of Astoria. This week, Ms. Velázquez endorsed Rana Abdelhamid, a Muslim community organizer, rebuffing his chosen successor, Diana Moreno.
Ms. Velázquez declined to discuss her private conversations with Mr. Mamdani, but said she could understand why he got involved in the race for her congressional district and backed Ms. Valdez.
“They are very close friends,” she said. “Look, it is what it is. Everyone is free to make a political decision.”
Benjamin Oreskes contributed reporting.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
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