A resurfaced interview with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani reveals, perhaps unsurprisingly, a childhood penchant forSimCity 3000. Mamdani’s whirlwind campaign has taken the city by storm, hitting on issues of affordability and housing -things that affect people throughout America, but are especially pronounced in an overpriced and increasingly inaccessible New York. Last night, Mamdani declared victory in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary after former governor Andrew Cuomo announced his concession.
The interview, published inNew York Magazinein November 2002 (then shared to X-formerly-Twitter bySami Gold, features interviews with several New York children, in which they were asked which presents they’d most want for the winter holidays. True to form, an 11-year-old Mamdani answered"Books [and]FIFA 2003andSimCity 3000 computer games.“Like many kids of his day, Mamdani was unsurprisingly interested in PC games - but it’s his particular choice ofSimCitythat may have inspired his eventual mayoral run.
Zohran Mamdani Apparently Loved SimsCity3000
Did A Childhood Obsession Inspire His Political Career?
SimCity 3000was first released in 1999, the third game in the city-building simulation series of the same name. Although it incorporates many new features compared to its predecessors, the gameplay is the same at its core:you’re put in total control of a virtual city, building roads, zoning land, providing public services, and dealing with crises.
SimCity 3000was an immensely popular game, with the revised Unlimited Edition (which would’ve been out by the time a young Mamdani asked for it) selling over a million copies in the US alone. Unfortunately, the series has been mostly defunct sincethe disastrous release ofSimCity 5, although newer city-building simCities: Skylineshas filled its niche.
The jury’s still out on whether his holiday wish came true, but we have to wonder.It’s fun to imagine an 11-year-old Zohran Mamdani sitting in front of the computer making policy decisions, the seeds of his eventual mayoral run taking hold as he ran a virtual city. Did he implement any of the same ideas that have captivated New Yorkers today - fast and free buses, city-funded childcare, a rent freeze for stabilized housing, and a push for new affordable housing construction - in hisSimCitysave?
Our Take: A Lot Of SimCity Could Help If He Becomes Mayor Of NYC
Let No One Say He’s Inexperienced
I’m only half joking when I say thata penchant forSimCitycould genuinely have helped Zohran Mamdani learn what it takes to run a city. I’m no expert when it comes to politics, but I’ve played my fair share of city builders. You don’t get into these games unless you have a strong, idyllic vision of what a city should look like, and a willingness to make complicated and difficult decisions. There’s still an election to be won, but I feel good about my mayoral frontrunner knowing he’s played - or at least had an interest in -SimCity 3000.
