Asad Dandia
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social
Local NYC historian, urbanist, organizer. I once sued the NYPD for spying on me, and now run a walking tour company called New York Narratives. Write to [email protected] to chat!
(Trying to be more active here)
(Trying to be more active here)
Pinned
Asad Dandia
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social
· Oct 15
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
Just over one year after launching my own walking tour company, my work now has a feature profile in THE NATION:
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Spoke to over 100 NYU students today about the history of Arab, South Asian, and Muslim NYC in a core undergrad class. Students are all excited about the future of this city, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to give them more grounding in its past and present.
Invite me to yours!
Invite me to yours!
November 17, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Spoke to over 100 NYU students today about the history of Arab, South Asian, and Muslim NYC in a core undergrad class. Students are all excited about the future of this city, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to give them more grounding in its past and present.
Invite me to yours!
Invite me to yours!
Before joining last night’s campaign party, I sat with Marshall Ganz, the social movement scholar who devised Obama’s 2008 campaign strategy. I asked him: Is this an Obama 2008 moment?
He said, “It’s different, instead of maximizing support [like Zohran], Obama kept minimizing opposition.”
He said, “It’s different, instead of maximizing support [like Zohran], Obama kept minimizing opposition.”
November 6, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Before joining last night’s campaign party, I sat with Marshall Ganz, the social movement scholar who devised Obama’s 2008 campaign strategy. I asked him: Is this an Obama 2008 moment?
He said, “It’s different, instead of maximizing support [like Zohran], Obama kept minimizing opposition.”
He said, “It’s different, instead of maximizing support [like Zohran], Obama kept minimizing opposition.”
Quote from me for Al-Jazeera on Cuomo trafficking in Islamophobia while also inciting sectarianism within the Muslim community:
“Sadly he knows he can weaponize both Islam and Islamophobia, because treating Muslims both as tools and as targets is politically profitable.”
“Sadly he knows he can weaponize both Islam and Islamophobia, because treating Muslims both as tools and as targets is politically profitable.”
November 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Quote from me for Al-Jazeera on Cuomo trafficking in Islamophobia while also inciting sectarianism within the Muslim community:
“Sadly he knows he can weaponize both Islam and Islamophobia, because treating Muslims both as tools and as targets is politically profitable.”
“Sadly he knows he can weaponize both Islam and Islamophobia, because treating Muslims both as tools and as targets is politically profitable.”
More people have already voted in the New York City mayoral election on an odd year than the entire populations of Boston, Miami, Detroit, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
November 4, 2025 at 11:41 PM
More people have already voted in the New York City mayoral election on an odd year than the entire populations of Boston, Miami, Detroit, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.
I was born and raised in New York City. I’ve never left and don’t really know another “Home.” But I love it—because Home happened to be the most diverse and dynamic city ever known to humankind.
Today I voted for my brother Zohran Mamdani because I know he loves every inch of it the way do.
Today I voted for my brother Zohran Mamdani because I know he loves every inch of it the way do.
November 4, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I was born and raised in New York City. I’ve never left and don’t really know another “Home.” But I love it—because Home happened to be the most diverse and dynamic city ever known to humankind.
Today I voted for my brother Zohran Mamdani because I know he loves every inch of it the way do.
Today I voted for my brother Zohran Mamdani because I know he loves every inch of it the way do.
Got up at 5am and into a suit so I could join hundreds of people to walk with our next mayor by 6 on the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun rose to mark the start of a new day in NYC.
I wouldn’t do this for anyone else even if they paid me, so you know I’m really about it for our boy.
I wouldn’t do this for anyone else even if they paid me, so you know I’m really about it for our boy.
November 3, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Got up at 5am and into a suit so I could join hundreds of people to walk with our next mayor by 6 on the Brooklyn Bridge as the sun rose to mark the start of a new day in NYC.
I wouldn’t do this for anyone else even if they paid me, so you know I’m really about it for our boy.
I wouldn’t do this for anyone else even if they paid me, so you know I’m really about it for our boy.
"Asad Dandia, a New York urban historian who is part of Mamdani’s informal 'kitchen cabinet' that advises him, said many younger voters have only ever known Trump. But with Zohran's campaign, 'they get to be part of something that speaks to them.'" www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
'Our country has failed them.' Zohran Mamdani talks to USA TODAY about younger voters.
Early voting has appeared to skew towards older voters and Andrew Cuomo has gained in the NYC mayoral polls, making youth turnout key for Mamdani.
www.usatoday.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:58 PM
"Asad Dandia, a New York urban historian who is part of Mamdani’s informal 'kitchen cabinet' that advises him, said many younger voters have only ever known Trump. But with Zohran's campaign, 'they get to be part of something that speaks to them.'" www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
My father and I were invited to a private community event earlier this afternoon to hear my friend Zohran Mamdani speak.
Remember: It isn’t *just* young people who’ve been activated by this campaign 😌❤️.
Remember: It isn’t *just* young people who’ve been activated by this campaign 😌❤️.
November 1, 2025 at 2:57 AM
My father and I were invited to a private community event earlier this afternoon to hear my friend Zohran Mamdani speak.
Remember: It isn’t *just* young people who’ve been activated by this campaign 😌❤️.
Remember: It isn’t *just* young people who’ve been activated by this campaign 😌❤️.
Reposted by Asad Dandia
i will defend to the death my country, the New York City Subway System 🫡
Happy 121st birthday to the NYC Subway, opened on this day in 1904. Like the city itself, you can’t truly love it until there are days where you hate it. But I will always be grateful for it every one of those days.
October 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
i will defend to the death my country, the New York City Subway System 🫡
Happy 121st birthday to the NYC Subway, opened on this day in 1904. Like the city itself, you can’t truly love it until there are days where you hate it. But I will always be grateful for it every one of those days.
October 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Happy 121st birthday to the NYC Subway, opened on this day in 1904. Like the city itself, you can’t truly love it until there are days where you hate it. But I will always be grateful for it every one of those days.
13,000 people attended tonight’s rally. I’m sorry to be always be that New York Exceptionalist, but this could not happen anywhere else, and no mayoral candidate in modern US history could do it except one of our own.
And what a blessing to witness it all.
And what a blessing to witness it all.
October 27, 2025 at 4:21 AM
13,000 people attended tonight’s rally. I’m sorry to be always be that New York Exceptionalist, but this could not happen anywhere else, and no mayoral candidate in modern US history could do it except one of our own.
And what a blessing to witness it all.
And what a blessing to witness it all.
Reposted by Asad Dandia
Life is pretty rough for our Muslim friends on the other site, so I’m reupping this piece on one of the very greatest New Yorkers @asadfromnyc.bsky.social to try and get him to spend more time here, where it’s much more sane.
Historian Asad Dandia, a city character in his own right, is showing the history of Muslims in New York while also trying to help elect the city’s first Muslim mayor.
buff.ly/HMbY2zn
buff.ly/HMbY2zn
October 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Life is pretty rough for our Muslim friends on the other site, so I’m reupping this piece on one of the very greatest New Yorkers @asadfromnyc.bsky.social to try and get him to spend more time here, where it’s much more sane.
May Allah bless and protect you always, my friend.
October 27, 2025 at 2:32 AM
May Allah bless and protect you always, my friend.
Reposted by Asad Dandia
My man @asadfromnyc.bsky.social 🙌🏼🙌🏼🔥🔥🙏🏼🙏🏼😌😌
“For Asad Dandia, an urban historian, Mamdani’s success to date is a culmination of 400 years of Muslim history in the city, stretching back to the enslaved Africans brought to New York, about 30 percent of whom were Muslim.” www.aljazeera.com/news/longfor...
NYC working-class Muslims see progress in Mamdani, but policies win votes
History-making run met with pride, prejudice, but many Muslim New Yorkers more focused on message of affordability.
www.aljazeera.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:11 AM
My man @asadfromnyc.bsky.social 🙌🏼🙌🏼🔥🔥🙏🏼🙏🏼😌😌
“‘We could not hide that we are Muslim,’ Dandia said, referring to himself and Mamdani. ‘Yet we do not anchor our politics on identitarian terms. Adequate housing is a ‘Muslim issue’, public transit is a ‘Muslim issue’, universal childcare is a ‘Muslim issue.’” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
From scapegoats to city hall: how New York Muslims built power and shaped Zohran Mamdani
Muslim New Yorkers have steadily become a political force amid post-9/11 Islamophobic sentiment. Mamdani is their most accomplished expression
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
“‘We could not hide that we are Muslim,’ Dandia said, referring to himself and Mamdani. ‘Yet we do not anchor our politics on identitarian terms. Adequate housing is a ‘Muslim issue’, public transit is a ‘Muslim issue’, universal childcare is a ‘Muslim issue.’” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Such kind words from a scholar of New York City! One day we will co-curate a walking tour together based on your book! :)
Loved seeing this @asadfromnyc.bsky.social Shout out to this wonderful CUNY colleague
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Such kind words from a scholar of New York City! One day we will co-curate a walking tour together based on your book! :)
“For Asad Dandia, an urban historian, Mamdani’s success to date is a culmination of 400 years of Muslim history in the city, stretching back to the enslaved Africans brought to New York, about 30 percent of whom were Muslim.” www.aljazeera.com/news/longfor...
NYC working-class Muslims see progress in Mamdani, but policies win votes
History-making run met with pride, prejudice, but many Muslim New Yorkers more focused on message of affordability.
www.aljazeera.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:34 AM
“For Asad Dandia, an urban historian, Mamdani’s success to date is a culmination of 400 years of Muslim history in the city, stretching back to the enslaved Africans brought to New York, about 30 percent of whom were Muslim.” www.aljazeera.com/news/longfor...
Reposted by Asad Dandia
““I want people to understand that the city progressively unfolded through these struggles, and the best way to do that, I think, is to walk the streets and to see the sites of contestation,” he added. “The streets of New York bear witness to our labor.”
Just over one year after launching my own walking tour company, my work now has a feature profile in THE NATION:
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:32 AM
““I want people to understand that the city progressively unfolded through these struggles, and the best way to do that, I think, is to walk the streets and to see the sites of contestation,” he added. “The streets of New York bear witness to our labor.”
“Dandia takes New York back from the systems that surveilled him. In East Harlem, he chronicles the rise of Muslim Boricuas. In FiDi, he traces the forced displacement of Syrian émigrés. In upper Manhattan, he follows the specter of Malcolm X.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:00 AM
“Dandia takes New York back from the systems that surveilled him. In East Harlem, he chronicles the rise of Muslim Boricuas. In FiDi, he traces the forced displacement of Syrian émigrés. In upper Manhattan, he follows the specter of Malcolm X.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Asad Dandia
This is both everything good about New York and everything bad in New York, in one single story: www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
This is both everything good about New York and everything bad in New York, in one single story: www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Just over one year after launching my own walking tour company, my work now has a feature profile in THE NATION:
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
The Man Behind the Radical Walking Tours of New York City
Asad Dandia sued the NYPD after it spied on his family and community. Now he uses people’s history to reclaim the streets from the systems that surveilled him.
www.thenation.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Just over one year after launching my own walking tour company, my work now has a feature profile in THE NATION:
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
“I don’t want New York to be seen as just a collection of monuments and structures. I want it to be understood as a collective of stories and people.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Asad Dandia
Back at my favorite print lab
October 13, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Back at my favorite print lab
Reposted by Asad Dandia
Through his tour company New York Narratives,
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social tells the untold histories of Muslims and other New Yorkers. “I want people to know not just the stories of success and survival but also the stories of struggle,” he said.
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social tells the untold histories of Muslims and other New Yorkers. “I want people to know not just the stories of success and survival but also the stories of struggle,” he said.
Take a Walk With Asad From NYC - City Limits
Asad Dandia, a community organizer, Muslim New Yorker, and urban history tour guide is a rising star with friends in high places.
citylimits.org
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Through his tour company New York Narratives,
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social tells the untold histories of Muslims and other New Yorkers. “I want people to know not just the stories of success and survival but also the stories of struggle,” he said.
@asadfromnyc.bsky.social tells the untold histories of Muslims and other New Yorkers. “I want people to know not just the stories of success and survival but also the stories of struggle,” he said.
Reposted by Asad Dandia
GANYC member Asad Dandia ( @asadfromnyc.bsky.social ) is profiled in City Limits, on telling the stories of New York’s past, and helping shape its future.
citylimits.org/take-a-walk-...
citylimits.org/take-a-walk-...
Take a Walk With Asad From NYC - City Limits
Asad Dandia, a community organizer, Muslim New Yorker, and urban history tour guide is a rising star with friends in high places.
citylimits.org
September 19, 2025 at 6:17 PM
GANYC member Asad Dandia ( @asadfromnyc.bsky.social ) is profiled in City Limits, on telling the stories of New York’s past, and helping shape its future.
citylimits.org/take-a-walk-...
citylimits.org/take-a-walk-...
I had a lovely meeting today with the Brooklyn President Antonio Reynoso, where we spoke about the history of Muslim Brooklyn at Ruhani Cafe on Atlantic Avenue.
Any opportunity to enhance the cultural literacy and political education of our elected leaders is one I’ll take. Thank you Antonio.
Any opportunity to enhance the cultural literacy and political education of our elected leaders is one I’ll take. Thank you Antonio.
August 26, 2025 at 1:34 AM
I had a lovely meeting today with the Brooklyn President Antonio Reynoso, where we spoke about the history of Muslim Brooklyn at Ruhani Cafe on Atlantic Avenue.
Any opportunity to enhance the cultural literacy and political education of our elected leaders is one I’ll take. Thank you Antonio.
Any opportunity to enhance the cultural literacy and political education of our elected leaders is one I’ll take. Thank you Antonio.