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'You're next': The Black and Latino New Yorkers feeling burned by Mamdani's primary sweep
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 24, 2026
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MADISON SWART/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 24, 2026
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Tuesday’s democratic socialist victories led by Mayor Zohran Mamdani further energized a movement of young Democrats hungry for change. But they also unnerved some Black and Latino New Yorkers who say gentrification threatens to leave them politically and literally homeless.
A viral video of a crowd erupting into boos and chants of “You’re next” when House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' face flashed on a television screen at a watch party in Brooklyn for Claire Valdez struck some as particularly offensive. Jeffries is the first Black person to lead a party in either chamber of Congress, and could become the next speaker of the House.
“To be shouting ‘you’re next’ — a majority white audience to a Black man — just harkens back to some dark times in history,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who endorsed Valdez’s opponent Antonio Reynoso.
Shabazz Stuart, a Brooklyn resident who also supported Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, said he heard the chant of “you’re next” as not targeted only at Jeffries but as a way of putting the establishment “on notice.”
“It can come across as ‘we're all next, right?’” he said. “And it can come across as we're losing the city that we grew up in, and that's what people fear.”
“It feels existential,” he added.
Asked by a Capitol Hill reporter on Wednesday whether he was worried about a primary challenge in 2028, Jeffries responded, “When you ask me a serious question, I’ll give you a serious answer.”
In interviews with the New York Times and CNN, New York Attorney General Letitia James spoke about “hurt feelings” in communities of color. She said she was disappointed by Mamdani’s lack of understanding about race and class issues in the city.
“Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts, and are relatively new to the body politic,” James told CNN.
James could not be reached for comment.
But the divisions on the left are not black and white. Mamdani’s election last year was fueled by widespread support from New Yorkers, including many in immigrant communities outside gentrifying neighborhoods.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, Mamdani’s ally who defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat, is Black and Dominican. She will likely join three other members of the Democratic Socialists of America in next year’s Congress: Claire Valdez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are Latina, and Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American.
Earlier this year, many in the DSA supported the campaign by City Councilmember Chi Ossé, who is Black, to primary Jeffries. But Mamdani urged the DSA not to back Ossé, effectively ending his bid.
Claire Valdez supporters celebrating her primary win at a watch party in Bushwick.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The demographics of the two wings of the Democratic Party were on full display Tuesday night. Espaillat’s party inside La Casa Del Mofongo in Washington Heights was made up of older Latinos. Avila Chevalier’s event featured a younger, diverse crowd of supporters gathered at the Puerto Rican restaurant Sofrito in Hamilton Heights, a gentrified enclave in Harlem.
Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham University, said it’s unfair to assume that Avila Chevalier won’t represent the interest of Black residents.
“She didn't need Black Democrats necessarily, but that doesn't mean that she won't acknowledge and support policies that would disproportionately affect and assist Black voters,” she said. “I just think that there's an initial anxiety of ‘someone is in office who we did not help get there, and we know very little about.’”
Mamdani has often argued that his affordability agenda resonates broadly and pointed to the 1 million votes he earned in last year’s election.
Asked on Wednesday why Avila Chevalier narrowly lost majority Black and Latino neighborhoods that were lower-income, the mayor said he hadn’t yet “dug into the granular details” of the election. He insisted that she and the other candidates he endorsed won with “enough voters to create a mandate.”
But many questioned why the mayor endorsed two relative newcomers, Avila Chevalier and Valdez, who had limited records in communities of color.
"When I look around, the partner that has always been there is the congressman," Councilmember Carmen de la Rosa said at Espaillat’s watch party. "No offense to Darializa, but I have never seen her in any of those fights."
De la Rosa warned that the mayor’s endorsements in congressional races that have pitted him against key allies could come back to haunt him.
"When you come to communities like ours to plead our case, you'll have to explain, right?"
Henry Garrido, the head of DC37, the city's largest municipal union, said the mayor’s decision to endorse Avila Chevalier had been especially “glaring” because Espaillat was a five-term incumbent.
“This unfortunate fight has become more about ideology rather than about affordability,” Garrido said.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to note the Queens borough president endorsed Reynoso.
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Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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