When Zohran Mamdani was declared the next mayor of New York City on Tuesday night, history was made — twice. Mamdani became the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in more than a century. Standing beside him, smiling as the crowd roared, was his wife, 28-year-old artist Rama Duwaji, who is quietly making history of her own.
While Mamdani’s political rise has dominated headlines, his love story with Rama feels more like something out of an indie film — one that begins not in City Hall, but on a dating app.
A Match Made on Hinge
The couple first connected on Hinge in 2021, shortly after Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly. Rama, a Syrian-American illustrator based in Brooklyn, wasn’t following New York politics. Their first date was simple: coffee at Qahwah House, a cozy Yemeni café, followed by a walk through McCarren Park. On their second, Mamdani took her on a tour of his Astoria district — the same neighborhood that would later help make him mayor.
By October 2024, the two were engaged. “Couldn’t possibly be prouder,” Rama wrote on Instagram, sharing photos of the couple alongside a childhood snapshot of Mamdani.
Just days after announcing their engagement, Mamdani launched his mayoral campaign. The couple celebrated their nikah and engagement party that December in Dubai, on a rooftop overlooking the Burj Khalifa. “This engagement and Nikkah were more than an event — it was a floral installation set against Dubai’s dusky skyline,” the event designer, LMF Dubai, posted.
A City Hall Love Story
Two months later, in February 2025, they made it official at a civil ceremony in the City Clerk’s Office in Lower Manhattan. Mamdani later shared photos from that day, including a now-iconic black-and-white shot of the pair riding the subway at Union Square. Rama wore a white dress with black boots, holding a bouquet as commuters sat unaware that they were sharing a train with New York’s future first couple.
“Three months ago, I married the love of my life, Rama, at the City Clerk’s office,” Mamdani wrote. “Now, right-wing trolls are trying to make this race — which should be about you — about her. Rama isn’t just my wife; she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms. You can critique my views, but not my family.”
Who Is Rama Duwaji?
Related Posts
My Mother-in-Law Raised Her Glass and Called My Husband “The Most Loyal Man in Our Family”—She Didn’t Know He Was Upstairs With His First Love. Three Minutes Later, I Turned On the Projector… Then He Saw the Envelope I’d Hidden Under My Chair, and Suddenly the Woman on the Screen Was No Longer His Biggest Problem.
Part 1 of 3The Toast Everyone Believed “If my husband is taking this long to bring down the wine, maybe it’s because he decided to serve it upstairs.”...
On Our Wedding Night, My Husband Struck Me for Helping His Injured Mother While His Entire Family Watched in Silence—So I Took Her to the Hospital Alone. Before Dawn, She Revealed Why He Had Really Married Me… Then an Auditor Found an $8 Million Secret His Family Had Buried for 15 Years
Part 1 of 3The Wedding Night That Opened Every Locked Door By the time Ethan Whitmore struck me across the face, the last guests had been gone for...
My Nine-Year-Old Son Was Rushed to the Hospital from His Best Friend’s House. Two Police Officers Stopped Me from Entering His Room. Ten Minutes Later, My Husband Walked Out Looking Relieved, and That Night My Son Whispered, “Mom, Look at My Phone”
Part 1 of 3 The Call That Changed Everything I still remember the exact words the police officer said. “Mrs. Hollis, I think you should wait here for...
Everyone Accused My Seven-Year-Old Daughter Of Attacking A Wealthy Classmate, And Two Officers Arrived To Take Her Away—But Minutes Later, The Boy’s Surgeon Father Knelt Before Her In The Hospital Waiting Room And Revealed The Truth Nobody Had Expected
Part 1 of 3 The Day Everyone Believed My Daughter Had Done Something Terrible The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the principal’s office was the...
“You Have No Money, No Career, and Nowhere to Go,” My Husband Sneered After His “Business Adviser” Hurt Our Six-Year-Old and He Chose to Look Away—Hours Later, at Portland’s Most Exclusive Gala, Our Daughter Ran Straight to the Man Who Controlled His Company’s Future, and One Trembling Gesture Turned His Most Important Night Into the Reckoning He Never Saw Coming
Part 1 of 3The House That Taught Me to Be Quiet For seven years, I believed silence was the price of keeping a family together. That belief ended...