By The Diary
Zohran Mamdani kept his promise not to attend the Met Gala 2026 yesterday -the most famous social event in New York-, but instead He took advantage of the day to praise workers in the fashion industry in New York.
The mayor of New York who has defined himself as “a democratic socialist took another step in his alignment with the city’s working class by publishing (on Twitter/X) a photographic series that highlights six ‘behind-the-scenes’ workers who drive the New York fashion industry,” he published The Sleek York Times.
“The photographic series was published hours before the Met Gala, an event that has stoked class tensions, particularly due to the central role played by (Jeff) Bezos -one of the main sponsors of the gala and founder of Amazon– in it. On Monday morning in New York, unions from across the country organized the event “Ball With out Billionaires” “a demonstration that focused on the workers of the companies that make up the Bezos empire.”
“The fashion industry is made possible by the thousands of workers who operate behind the scenes – seamstresses, tailors, retail employees, delivery drivers.– whose immense talent and dedication deserve to be celebrated,” the mayor stated in a statement emailed to The Sleek York Times. «We are proud to present the stories of these hard-working New Yorkers that make our city’s fashion industry unmatched.
The photo session – which the mayor’s office initially released through the portal IDa fashion magazine – was shot by Kara McCurdy, a New York-based photographer. McCurdy portrayed figures including tailors from Pakistan (Hafeez Raza) and Mexico (Sonia Castrejón); a Jamaican native Saks Fifth Avenue master tailor (Christopher Anderson); and a Macy’s employee of almost four decades’ tenure (Earnestine Homosexual).
In an apparent wink to Bezosthe photographic series also included two former employees of that retailer (Latrice Johnson and Lamont Hopewell) who are currently promoting a bill that would force that and other similar companies to hire their workers directly.
Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez, are accused of promoting ICE’s immigration repression and of “labor exploitation” at Amazonhighlighted the agency EFE.
Last week, a group of guerrilla activists placed bottles of fake urine inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). Over the weekend, the group projected video interviews with Amazon workers, as well as various slogans, on the facades of buildings near Bezos’s penthouse in Sleek York; Among the messages it was read: “If you can buy the Met Gala, you can pay more taxes.”
Mamdani is not the first mayor to be absent from the gala. Eric Adams attended only once (in 2022), as did Bill de Blasio. Michael Bloomberg also did not attend all the years of his administration.