Nydia Velázquez gives Mamdani a warning as she endorses a successor

By NICHOLAS FANDOS

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) 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 Velázquez in Congress as she retires after 32 years representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

But Velázquez pushed it into the open 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 Assembly member 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 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.

Velázquez, 72, indicated there was more she would leave unsaid for now.

“I’m trying to be respectful,” she said.

The growing distance between Velázquez and Mamdani, 34, just two weeks into his term was striking after an almost yearlong partnership that began when Velázquez became the first member of Congress to back 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 Assembly member and helped him stitch together a coalition of traditional progressives and ascendant democratic socialists. He, in turn, has called her “an inspiration.”

Mamdani certainly has good reasons for urging 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 Velázquez also underscores the risks of his approach and demonstrates why many of Mamdani’s predecessors have steered clear of intraparty clashes once in office.

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 Rep. 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 Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader.

The primary race between Reynoso and Valdez in New York’s 7th 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.