NEW YORK — As Zohran Mamdani took the stage for his victory speech Tuesday night, the staff at Kabab King paused to listen. They recorded his speech and listened to his every word. The dining cutlery that was clanking away just moments before fell silent.

“New York City, breathe this moment in,” Mamdani said.

Locals had flocked to the mayor-elect’s go-to biryani spot in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens hoping that he might show up — he has made the venue a frequent campaign stop — or just to celebrate the longtime neighborhood institution where biryani and kebabs are on virtually every table.

“Most people think this is a hole in the wall, but he comes here,” says Lakshmi Shubha, a Roosevelt Island resident, who came to Kabab King with two of her friends.

Shortly after being elected New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, Mamdani gave a speech in neighboring Brooklyn heavy on the biography on which he campaigned and the homages he has long given to his roots.

“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant!” Mamdani hailed in his victory speech.

Viewers in the restaurant clapped and cheered in that moment.

“We’ve been saying Mamdani Mubarak!” said Shahrukh Ali, the owner of Kabab King.

“He’s a people’s person for sure. He reminds me what New York City is all about,” said 21-year-old Mamdani voter Sameha Jamal. “It’s nice to embrace that again.”

Jamal’s father, who also voted for Mamdani, said most of the democratic socialist’s proposals appealed to him, but as a homeowner, he wanted to see more specifics about Mamdani’s plan to freeze hikes on rent-stabilized apartments. He rents out part of his multi-story family home and hopes that the rent freeze does not affect small homeowners like him. Otherwise, he said he won’t vote for Mamdani in the next election.

Other diners spoke about seeing someone who reflects their identity on the national political stage. They described watching Mamdani be declared the winner of this race as a moment that filled them with hope and excitement.

Jackson Heights is an extremely diverse neighborhood. About 64% residents are foreign-born, 50% Hispanic or Latino, 32% Asian, 15% White, and 1% African American, according to a report from the NYC Small Business Services.

“In my lifetime, I would not have imagined a city such as New York City, which is one of the biggest cities in the world but also a city that had gone through 9/11, have a Muslim socialist, like, South Asian leader be so prominent and so many people supporting him. I think it just shows the direction that the young people in our country want to go for,” said Sehrish Munir, who voted for Mamdani.

South Asians are reliably Democratic because minority religions feel at home in the party, according to Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI data at the University of California, Berkeley. “They identify more with Democrats, and then, over time, they support the policies of the Democratic Party that go beyond, you know, race and religion.”

Mamdani’s South Asian identity may give cause for celebration to the South Asians who feel represented in all the things he is, but there’s also something very New York about him, Munir said.

“It’s apparent in his beliefs. The way he talks, the way he approaches people, his campaign where he’s spoken so many languages. Like, he knows. What other city in the world is going to do that?” she said. — CNN