As the closely watched New York City mayoral election approaches, frontrunner Zohran Mamdani embarked on a Saturday night campaign club crawl that included two queer events.

The New York State Assembly member and self-described Democratic Socialist took the stage at Brooklyn nightclub Elsewhere on Saturday night for a surprise appearance at queer art collective Papi Juice’s Halloween event.

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“I just want to say such a deep thank you to Papi Juice for creating a space for queer and trans New Yorkers,” Mamdani said as the crowd cheered. “In a city where so much is about struggle, it’s so important to have a space for joy.”

In a video from the event posted to Papi Juice’s Instagram stories, Mamdani reminded the crowd to head to the polls on Tuesday and closed his remarks by noting that it was “an honor to be the first mayoral candidate to ever be at Papi Juice!”

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In a Sunday X post, Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec noted that the Assemblyman made stops at six Brooklyn clubs and bars on Saturday night. According to Rouge DNC, those stops included Gabriela, Caribbean Social Club, Damballa, and queer club Mood Ring in addition to Papi Juice.

As influencer Matt Bernstein noted in an X post featuring a clip from Mamdani’s appearance at Mood Ring, the club crawl stretched into the early hours of Sunday morning.

“So, it’s 1am and Zohran just showed up at a gay bar,” Bernstein wrote.

“Are we ready to beat Andrew Cuomo? Are we ready to win a city we can afford? Are we ready to make history?” Mamdani asked the crowd from Mood Ring’s DJ booth in Bernstein’s clip.

As Mamdani alluded, should he win Tuesday’s election, he would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor. Polls have consistently shown him with a sizable lead over Cuomo, who opted to stay in the races as an Independent after being trounced by Mamdani in this summer’s Democratic primary. As Fox 5 New York notes, recent polls show him with a double-digit lead over Cuomo, with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trailing far behind both.

Mamdani also stopped by the East Village’s Parkside Lounge on October 25 for one of lesbian party Meow Mix’s 30th anniversary celebrations alongside Cynthia Nixon and cabaret performer Justin Vivian Bond.

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A post shared by Justin Vivian Bond (@mxviv)

While Mamdani’s campaign has focused primarily on making New York City more affordable, he has also pledged to spend $57 million on medical centers that provide gender-affirming care and $8 million more to develop new and broader resources. He has vowed to expand and protect gender-affirming care and create an Office of LGBTQIA+ affairs.

In March, he attended a Trans Day of Visibility rally, and in May, he held a trans community town hall. In a recent ad, he honored transgender activist Sylvia Rivera and promised to “deploy hundreds of lawyers” to fight the president’s anti-trans attacks and make New York City a sanctuary city for trans people.

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