India, Nov. 5 -- Zohran Mamdani's path to City Hall did not begin with campaign rallies. It started in the streets. In late 2021, when New York City taxi drivers were holding vigils and hunger strikes to protest crushing medallion debt, Mamdani was there.

He had just started his first term in Albany. He was 29. He would go on to starve himself for nearly two weeks in front of City Hall, insisting that the protest "make the consequences of policy public."

During the 2021 hunger strike, he spoke about "people who have ruined their bodies for the city." As per The Guardian, he broke his fast after consuming only water, Gatorade, and eventually broth, it was with two slices of avocado and a date. He said he was exhausted. But he also said t...