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He said “I Do-bai.”
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani secretly held a engagement and wedding ceremony in Dubai with his seldom-seen wife, Rama Duwaji, The Post has learned.
Mamdani, 33, and Duwaji threw the under-the-radar United Arab Emirates bash Dec. 22, 2024 on the stunning rooftop of Vida Creek Harbour, which boasts views of the Burj Khalifa, according to Instagram posts by florist LMF Dubai.
The pair held an engagement and a Nikkah — an Islamic religious ceremony in which a couple signs a marriage contract — during the gathering, the posts state.
Wedding packages for the venue run a socialist-friendly $72 per person, with a minimum food and beverage spend of roughly $2,700.
“Before their civil ceremony in New York City, Zohran and his wife celebrated their engagement in Dubai last year—where her family lives—with a small, joyful ceremony surrounded by their loved ones,” the Mamdani campaign said in a statement.
Mandani — after The Post asked questions Monday about the Dubai ceremony and a backlash on X — shared a post on Instagram asking New Yorkers to focus on him, rather than his wife.
“Three months ago, I married the love of my life, Rama, at the City Clerk’s office. Now, right-wing trolls are trying to make this race—which should be about you—about her,” he wrote.
“Rama isn’t just my wife, she’s an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms. You can critique my views, but not my family.”
The Queens state Assembly member has risen to second place in the crowded Democratic mayor primary race to replace Eric Adams, behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
His unapologetic socialist stance has raised eyebrows, especially given his privileged background as the son of filmmaker Mira Nair, who directed the award-winning 2001 film “Monsoon Wedding,” and Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani.
The brood lived in a stylish apartment complex along tony Riverside Drive owned by Columbia University, benefiting off the Ivy League’s property tax exemption that Mamdani has proposed eliminating.
While Mamdani enthusiastically wants to share the wealth, he is slightly less generous about divulging details on his recent marriage and Duwaji.
He did slip to Interview Magazine that he “got married in a civil ceremony at the clerk’s office,” calling it his favorite building in New York.
“The outside is just so beautiful and reminiscent of a different New York City, and the inside is in many ways public goods personified,” he said. “All of these New Yorkers getting married at the same time at different ages and at different times in their lives, it’s very beautiful.”
Duwaji is a Syrian artist centered in Brooklyn, whose illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Washington Post and VICE.
She received her Master of Fine Arts in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, which charges about $29,000 a semester.
In an interview with YUNG, Duwaji said she spent the majority of the coronavirus pandemic with her family in Dubai.
English (US)