From Little Senegal in Harlem to Little Liberia in Staten Island to Little Accra in the Bronx and Little Nigeria in Queens, New York City has always been a place where African immigrants arrived and thrived. To celebrate, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani recently held the city’s first-ever African Heritage reception at Gracie Mansion, welcoming immigrants from the continent’s many nations.
“I want to be very clear: I’m not going to be getting into whose jollof is best today,” joked Mamdani at the reception on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026.
Mamdani, who is Ugandan-born, attended the reception with his parents, aunt, and uncle. He expounded about the meaning behind his middle name, given to him by his father because of his admiration for Kwame Nkrumah — Ghana’s first prime minister and a stark Pan-Africanist. Mamdani and his family settled in New York City when he was 7. He was happy to discover that every borough had African communities.
“That is the New York that I love. When strangers come up to me and start speaking Luganda, it strikes me as a small miracle — proof of the decision that so many African New Yorkers have made, both alone and together, to never leave Africa behind,” said Mamdani.
He vowed to follow his namesake’s legacy of fighting for freedom and liberty.
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