Mamdani Look-Alike Contest Draws Hundreds in New York City
Hundreds of people gathered near Washington Square Park on Sunday for a Mayor Zohran Mamdani look-alike contest, where nine participants competed for a $100 prize. The event, sponsored by the social media app Sonder, drew a crowd that judged contestants on their resemblance to the mayor.
Amadeo Fusca, a comedian who has gained millions of views online through his impersonations of Mamdani, took home the top prize. He wore a New York Knicks jersey underneath his blazer, a nod to Mamdani's well-known support of the NBA team. Fusca also had a haircut and facial hair similar to Mamdani's.
The competition had a simple format: each contestant was asked to name their favorite pizza, and the winner was decided by who got the loudest applause from the crowd. The runner-up received $50.
Contestants came dressed in a variety of Mamdani-inspired styles, including the brown suit the mayor wore while campaigning in 2025, red and black patterned ties, dress shoes, dark blue and black suits, and silver rings. One participant appeared shirtless but wearing an apron, recreating a look from a rap music video Mamdani made in 2019.
The event was initially organized inside Washington Square Park, but police asked the organizers to leave because they did not have a permit. Attendees and contestants then moved to an area just outside the park, near the Washington Square Arch, where the competition continued.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who took office in January, has amassed a large following on social media and among younger residents. His agenda as mayor is centered on refocusing the power of government toward helping the city's struggling working class. His suits, facial hair, and political persona have become recognizable enough to be replicated and competed over.
The real Mamdani was nowhere near the competition. While nine versions of him competed in Greenwich Village, the mayor was reportedly at a family camping program, learning how to make s'mores.
This was not the first time Mamdani's likeness has been turned into a public spectacle. A similar lookalike contest was held in Brooklyn in 2025, when Mamdani was still campaigning for mayor and his profile was gaining momentum on social media. The latest event also follows a wider trend of lookalike contests in New York; Greenwich Village hosted a competition for New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson in June.
Following the declaration of the winner, one contestant — a 6-foot-2 Mamdani lookalike — claimed the competition had been rigged. Wearing a Knicks jersey under a dark blazer, he spent the event dancing to "YMCA," giving thumbs-up to the crowd, and insisting that "everybody says" he looked the most like Mamdani. "This was a rigged contest—totally rigged," he said, before accusing the organizers of favoring a "weak Zohran" and claiming that other contestants were "illegal Zohrans" from Brooklyn. He also questioned the crowd's reaction, arguing that the applause in his favor had been "suppressed by the failing sound system."