As Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushed his way through an election party crowd in East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, his face flashed a look of pure disbelief. His aides clapped their hands over their mouths. He and his chief of staff, Elle Bisgaard-Church, hugged for a moment under the gleam of a disco ball and everyone around them bounced, cheering, as if to say: Was this all really happening? A state representative, nearby, was weeping.
In a three-hour window on Tuesday night, Mr. Mamdani hopscotched among three election victory parties from Brooklyn to Upper Manhattan, and rode the high of a bet that paid off. His aura of invincibility — built up since last year at a dizzying pace, buoyed by recent weeks of Knicks-related elation — transferred to the candidates he endorsed, helping catapult two democratic socialists, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Brad Lander, the former city comptroller, to victory.
“We are not just a movement of a charismatic leader,” said Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America in New York City, holding a beer among the crowds at Ms. Valdez’s victory celebration.
Still, there is no denying that this movement’s leader has a pretty obvious and singular charisma, which was vividly on display. There was a hint of irony in the primary night festivities. It was a celebration of how the mayor’s popularity has rippled outward, boosting the political odds of candidates who share his views. But it was also a reminder of just how much the mayor himself commands a room.
When he walked into Ms. Valdez’s party, some of his supporters looked so overcome they could barely speak; at Ms. Avila Chevalier’s event, people sprinted after him as he tried to get out the door, with shouts of “mayor, mayor!”
In the days before the election, there were progressive leaders expressing concern that this moment was more man than movement. The primary underscored the movement’s force, but also that of the man.
Mr. Mamdani started his primary night victory tour at a brewery in Gowanus in Brooklyn, where Mr. Lander’s supporters were celebrating, seeming giddy but a little reserved after the race was called mere minutes after polls closed. There were throngs of progressive Jews from organizations like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, along with longtime progressive mainstays of city politics like former Manhattan borough president Ruth Messinger. If the mayor’s relationship with Mr. Lander, his mayoral rival-turned-buddy, has historically been somewhat tortured, their looks at the party Tuesday didn’t show it.
“We need a good neighbor,” Mr. Mamdani said, embracing Mr. Lander as he referenced Mr. Lander’s “Mr. Rogers” campaign messaging.
With Mr. Lander’s win expected, the emotions didn’t crest until later in the evening as other results became clear.
If there was a venue that symbolized Mr. Mamdani’s triumph and his promise of a new political era in New York, it was the south Brooklyn club where throngs were celebrating Ms. Valdez. This wasn’t just a party for Ms. Valdez but really a rave for the so-called Commie Corridor — complete with 20-somethings in neon wristbands dancing to music played by the guest D.J., the military insider turned whistle-blower, Chelsea Manning. Young people who said they had just joined the D.S.A. during Mr. Mamdani’s campaign were sipping Modelos and spontaneously cheering. The dance floor tunes ranged from “Sweet Dreams” to “Solidarity Forever.”
“Let’s hear it for the Democratic Socialists of America!” the mayor shouted, as the room broke out into shouts of “D.S.A.”
The final stop of the night took Mr. Mamdani uptown, not so far from where he grew up, to the Puerto Rican restaurant where Ms. Avila Chevalier’s supporters were gathered. This wasn’t an event filled with the heady exhilaration of the Commie Corridor, but it had its own strain of genuine shock.
“We were told time and time again that the odds were stacked against us,” Ms. Avila Chevalier told the crowd, the mayor grinning at her side.
Each of the parties had their own version of a who’s who. At Mr. Lander’s event, Ben McKenzie, the teenage heartthrob turned anti-crypto activist, praised Mr. Mamdani for his savvy in his primary endorsements. At Ms. Avila Chevalier’s event, Mahmoud Khalil, who became the face of the federal government’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian activists, said it felt “vindicating” to defeat a candidate backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. And at Ms. Valdez’s party, members of the mayor’s team — including his speechwriter, Julian Gerson, and his chief of staff, Ms. Bisgaard-Church — looked almost dazed with glee.
“Let’s hear it for a politics that will never forget working people,” Mr. Mamdani shouted. “For a politics that is ready to write a new chapter in our party’s history.”
The crowd roared. When Mr. Mamdani got offstage, he had nearly 12 miles to traverse to get to his next party. But instead of rushing out, he lingered in the crowd. He doled out hugs, slapped backs, cupped cheeks, his bodyguards jostling at his back.
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