By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 23:06:12 | Updated at 2026-08-07 03:55:02
5 hours ago
He’s a real prima-dani.
Social media-savvy Mayor Zohran Mamdani is developing a reputation IRL as “thin-skinned” and hyper-sensitive to public criticism, despite hyping himself online as a smiling and unflappable politician, scores of insiders spilled to The Post.
Behind the scenes, Hizzoner huffily badgers critics who dare question him publicly, harbors petty grudges against prominent pols and often only responds to texts when he’s miffed about bad press, according to interviews with more than a dozen elected officials, consultants and other politicos.
“I see more and more he cannot handle criticism, but mainly from elected officials who he thinks he can push around,” one political consultant said.
“The mayor personally reaches out when electeds criticizes him publicly. If they speak, then he cares. He cares because he doesn’t want bad press. It shows a sensitivity.”
The insiders who spoke with The Post about Mamdani asked to remain anonymous to avoid crossing a touchy mayor with whom they must deal over matters of governance and politics.
His reputed simmering irritation recently boiled over after city Jewish leaders called on him to “stop fanning the flames of hatred” against Israel in the wake of an alleged antisemitic stabbing attack on the Upper West Side.
Sources said the mayor personally called at least one elected official who attended the news conference, complaining about being told to tone down his rhetoric — and upset that their exhortation was connected to his video branding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” which was posted days before the attack.
The controversial two-minute clip, delivered direct-to-camera by a sober Mamdani sitting at a desk in front of the US and New York City flags, garnered an incredible 100 million views across social media platforms.
His mastery of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where he now, respectively, has 3.5 million and 11.9 million followers, largely fueled Mamdani’s meteoric rise during 2025 from little-known state lawmaker to the Big Apple’s next mayor — and, thus, a standard bearer for the nationally ascendant Democratic Socialists of America.
He bombarded New Yorkers’ feeds with slick, entertaining videos in which he affably pressed his campaign’s core message of affordability, such as when he highlighted “halalflation” at the city’s street food carts.
After taking office in January, Mamdani maintained his image-conscious ways by pouring $53 million into a new “Office of Mass Engagement,” an expansion of his already massive communications team that critics argue is a propaganda organ for City Hall.
He also regularly drops new videos, from an arguably ill-advised clip filmed outside billionaire hedge fund titan Ken Griffin’s $200 million condo to hype the DSA “tax the rich” agenda to a 13-minute documentary this week about tenants organizing against their do-nothing landlord.
Protecting the DSA movement’s burgeoning political power appears to be the source of much Mamdani touchiness, insiders said.
Another Democratic operative said Mamdani is “tough on staff,” often holding late-night meetings in Gracie Mansion with his DSA comrades.
“He’s the first DSA (mayor) so they have to show he can manage the city, and any time someone puts a dent in that it hurts their cause,” a government insider said.
But sources revealed that Mamdani also obsesses over even the potential for bad media coverage, such as when Queens Borough President Donovan Richards in July slammed the DSA as “white supremacy” in an X post.
Sources said Mamdani tried to nip a negative story in the bud by having a staffer reach out to Richards’ office to take down the post. Richards left the post up, leading to a Post story highlighting the rift between Mamdani’s largely lily-white DSA comrades and minority lawmakers such as the borough president.
“He’s so thin-skinned and reads everything,” one City Council member said.
“His security blanket is his phone and the dopamine from how many likes he gets on a post,” a Democratic operative scoffed. “Seems to keep him going.”
Posts that harshed Mamdani’s mellow also included City Councilwoman Virginia Maloney (D-Manhattan) rebutting the mayor’s claim that a budget proposal by lawmakers cut services with a lashing, “I know math is hard.”
Maloney’s sarcastic post on X apparently drew Mamdani’s ire, and he reached out to her, sources said.
“That Virginia Maloney tweet really got under their skin,” a source said amid the spat.
He likewise reached out to elected officials who slammed him over a proposed nearly 10% property tax increase, insiders said.
As The Post reported last week, Mamdani fumed in silence as he was snubbed from eulogizing Army Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad at her funeral in Queens last Friday.
One Democratic insider said Mamdani treats those who cross him with a “cold demeanor,” terse in responses and not his usual smiling self. In contrast to his usual smiley and affable public manner, even to foes like his unexpected texting bud President Trump and in the face of boos, like the ones he received during an anti-crime event on Staten Island this week.
Multiple sources said they discovered that one sure-fire way to get Mamdani’s and his team’s attention — and a reply — will be negative news coverage or a critical social media post.
“They only respond when it’s a crisis for them and teaches crisis levels in the press, but before that they don’t return calls, texts or emails,” a Democratic operative said.
“He has been known to hold grudges against whoever challenges him or his positions for even some of the smallest of slights, and those people get sent to the back of the line unless he needs something.”
Some insiders did credit the youthful Mamdani, 34, for being engaged in backroom dealings and acknowledging his limits. The mayor carries himself with “humility,” a union source said.
“He asks lots of questions. Seeks to understand the issues he’s lacking familiarity with,” the source said.
“He does more listening than talking. That’s uncommon in the political realm.”
Mamdani’s senior spokeswoman Dora Pekec said in a statement: “The mayor’s focus has and always will be how best to deliver for New Yorkers and he sees our city and state elected officials as valuable partners in building a safer and more affordable city.”
City Hall officials conducting damage control isn’t new, but insiders said Mamdani is quickly showing himself to be even more sensitive to media coverage than his notoriously whiny groundhog-killing predecessor Bill de Blasio.
Mamdani should focus on the job, rather than a “first-term council member tweeting” about him, snarked Fabien Levy, former Mayor Eric Adams’ chief mouthpiece.
“This administration is more on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok than probably any other politician in the county, but to steal an Eric Adams-ism: it’s not what’s in the tweets, it’s what’s in the streets,” Levy said.
