NEW YORK — It’s risky for politicians to attend sporting events on the campaign trail because one word about the proceedings, taken the wrong way, can alienate fans and voters.

On Sunday night, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, took his chance. He watched from the rafters, wearing a home-team jersey and mingling with fans in the cheap(ish) seats in relative anonymity.

Mamdani’s low-key appearance at Madison Square Garden underscored the accessibility and relatability he has tried to convey as a candidate. It also stood in stark contrast to how former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a third-party candidate for mayor, took in a New York Knicks game last month — wearing a suit and sitting courtside beside Mayor Eric Adams.

Cuomo had arrived after halftime after hustling from the election’s final debate. By sitting next to Adams, he was telegraphing a shotgun political marriage of shared enmity for Mamdani. (Adams, who ended his reelection bid in September, would officially endorse Cuomo the following day.)

“Corruption goes courtside,” Mamdani wrote on social media as Adams and Cuomo exchanged laughter in seats that can cost more than $10,000.

On Sunday, Mamdani headed to the Garden after spending time with Gov. Kathy Hochul watching her beloved Buffalo Bills at a bar in Astoria, a neighborhood in the Queens borough. With about 2 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter, he settled into a far less conspicuous perch than Cuomo: Section 212.

A decent vantage point to see, but not to be seen.

With a Black Knicks cap pulled low over his head and a Josh Hart jersey over his white collared shirt, Mamdani sat with several aides and with the comedian known as The Kid Mero, a campaign supporter.

Knicks Scoreboard Skips Mamdani

As the Knicks blew out the Chicago Bulls, the scoreboard showed celebrities who were attending, including Billy Baldwin, Jim Gaffigan and former New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. Not Mamdani.

Most fans either did not know or did not care that the front-runner in Tuesday’s mayoral election was seated among them. It helped, The Kid Mero said, that Mamdani had taken off the suit jacket and tie that he typically wears on the campaign trail.

Now, the comedian observed, Mamdani looked just like “one of my Dominican cousins.”

Mamdani seemed to relish being mostly unobserved for a change. He sang and danced along with the crowd to “I Want It That Way,” a hit song released by the Backstreet Boys in 1999, when Mamdani was 8 years old.

“The exhilaration of the last few days of the campaign is like little else, but so is the anxiety,” he said while watching the game. “Somebody described it to me once like playing tennis but not being able to see the score until the last minute.”

As the game went on, fans wearing their medals from the New York City Marathon visibly struggled to climb the arena’s stairs to their seats — prompting Mamdani to recall his marathon experience the year before.

“I’m clearly better at campaigning,” he said. He added that his knowledge of Knicks lore paled in comparison to his familiarity with soccer and cricket.

Even so, Mamdani played off the team’s popularity to try to boost his campaign during the Knicks’ playoff run last season. He interviewed die-hard fans outside the arena about the high cost of living and how expensive tickets had become. (A seat in Section 212 on Sunday cost more than $200 on the secondary market.)

But his fondness for the Knicks has not always been returned in kind.

Knicks Legal Action Against Mamdani

In a campaign ad that aired during the first game of the Knicks’ season, the team’s logo was merged with his campaign’s logo. In response, lawyers for the team, which is owned by a company that has donated heavily to Cuomo’s political pursuits, sent Mamdani’s campaign a letter saying they had to stop using the logo and reiterating that the team did not endorse him.

That did not deter Mamdani from showing up Sunday. He stayed until the game’s final minutes, the Knicks comfortably ahead. With his first public appearance set for 7 a.m. Monday, he walked a few steps up to an elevator and headed out.

One couple stopped him for a photo, but no one else.

The two people sitting next to Mamdani had no idea who he was and were surprised at the revelation after he had left.

“It feels good that somebody who is running for the mayor is sitting right next to us,” said Aanshi Mistry, 25, an Indian immigrant living in Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood near the arena.

Mamdani did little to give his identity away. Normally quick to take any selfie and shake any hand, he seemed in no rush to be recognized. He wondered, perhaps in half jest, whether moments like this would stop if he were to win.

“I think,” he said, “you have to be a little bit more inventive and creative.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Benjamin Oreskes/Jonah Markowitz
c. 2025 The New York Times Company