Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s Sunday scavenger hunt was so popular that it ran out of clue cards early on — but undaunted seekers pressed on anyway.
“I wouldn’t be the youngest mayor,” Mamdani said Sunday morning on X, announcing the first clue’s location in a video backed by the “Jeopardy” jingle. “That distinction goes to someone who was … kind of a star of ‘Notting Hill’? And was a part of an old New York political machine. To begin the hunt, meet us in front of the Gilded Age hall where that mayor spent a *lot* of his time.”
Your first clue. https://t.co/OMTQqNRMOH pic.twitter.com/uoMk1XnOcX
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) August 24, 2025
At 2 p.m. sharp, hundreds of people had solved the initial riddle and were already on line in Union Square, eager to press on.
“Made it to the answer of the first clue: Tammany Hall, Union Square,” read one enthusiast’s tweet reposted by Mamdani. “This [scavenger hunt] is so f’n clever.”
Political commentator Michael Lange estimated at least 1,500 people on line, tweeting, “All of 17th Street at Union Square is packed.”
Throughout the afternoon, participants chronicled their multi-borough adventures on X in real time as they went from Union Square to the Staten Island Ferry and beyond, ending up in Astoria.
And we’re off… https://t.co/L8xRJ0Yi04 pic.twitter.com/pld1FH2F8I
— Jeremy Wilcox (@jwilcox79) August 24, 2025
Mamdani had announced the hunt Sunday in a video titled “Game On” that opened with, “I’ve got something to hide. A lot of things, in fact,” while eating the same brand and flavor of potato chips that a campaign aide for Mayor Adams had allegedly stuffed with money and slipped into a reporter’s hand last week.
Contestants would follow “a series of clues, all related to a very particular theme in New York City history,” he said, ending at a final location to claim a potential prize that he promised would not be cash. The riff continued his jabs at the current bribery scandals enveloping Mayor Adams’ administration and campaign teams.
The game is afoot. Or atrain. Or abus.
Post along the way with #ZcavengerHunt pic.twitter.com/v4R561EdbP
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) August 24, 2025
As the 5:30 deadline window neared, Mamdani urged people who arrived earlier to “please enjoy the local neighborhood offerings” while they waited and managed to put a positive spin on the clue card shortage.
“Only players with clue cards will be able to access the final stop,” he tweeted. “We couldn’t have imagined how many New Yorkers would be ready to Zcavenge!”
The youngest mayor on record was Hugh J. Grant, who was elected at age 30 and sworn in at 31, serving from 1889 to 1892, part of the powerful Democratic Party political machinery known as Tammany Hall.
Mamdani is 33.
With News Wire Services
Originally Published:
