Finance18 September, 20262 min read
Lula Meets Zohran Mamdani in New York, Focuses on Cost Of Living and Poverty
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Lula and Mamdani discussed rising cost of living and household expenses in New York. Meeting took place one day before the UN General Assembly, focusing on social policy.
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16 outlets told this the same way.
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Cost of living focus
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met Zohran Mamdani in New York with the rising cost of living and the difficulties households face in sustaining daily expenses as a main focus. Lula told the Brazilian ambassador’s residence, “The first question I asked was whether New York has the same social problems as the other cities in the world,” and he added, “But in every city in the world, the poor suffer.” Mamdani said addressing the cost of living is the priority of his term, and he described New York as “the most expensive city in the United States and the third most expensive in the world.”
“‘We live in the most expensive city in the United States and the third most expensive in the world.”
Mamdani also said, “One in four New Yorkers lives in poverty,” while Lula and Mamdani exchanged gifts at the end of the roughly one-hour meeting. Lula gave Mamdani a Corinthians jersey, and Mamdani gave Lula a personalized New York shirt after the meeting.
Social policy as model
Lula highlighted social programs and labor policies in his meeting with Mamdani, and he spoke about defending democracy and combating misinformation. Mamdani replied that he would draw inspiration from Lula, who launched social programs for the most disadvantaged in Brazil, in his effort to improve conditions for New Yorkers facing economic difficulties to cover expenses such as buying and renting. Mamdani also emphasized the experience of social policies implemented during Lula’s governments, and he said he would seek elements from that path to confront New York’s economic pressure on households from the prices of food and, particularly, housing.
Lula’s foreign policy aide Celso Amorim described the encounter as a father and son dialogue, saying, “Mamdani — recalled the former foreign minister — is a young man who governs one of the world’s most important cities and offered us his vision.” Mamdani and Lula ended the meeting by exchanging soccer shirts, with Lula giving Mamdani a Corinthians T-shirt and Mamdani giving Lula a customized New York shirt created for the World Cup.
Elections and international agenda
Lula and Mamdani framed their cost-of-living discussion within election timing, with Lula seeking a non-consecutive fourth term and Mamdani facing key electoral processes in the United States.
The meeting took place at the residence and office of the Brazilian delegation to the UN on the Upper East Side, and it occurred one day before the opening of the 81st United Nations General Assembly where Lula would again hold the traditional first turn among the heads of state.
Reuters reported that Lula met Mamdani “on the eve of key elections in both Brazil and the United States,” and it said Lula was in the United States for the UN General Assembly.
The Reuters account also linked the finance and household theme to Mamdani’s effort to improve conditions for New Yorkers facing economic difficulties to cover expenses such as buying and renting.
Lula and Mamdani’s meeting also sat alongside Lula’s broader UN agenda, with Lula scheduled to meet U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on the sidelines of the day’s official UN agenda.