"I recall as a kid, our last socialist Mayor, Frank Zeidler, rode the city buses to work."
I absolutely believe this and can picture the setting you've painted.
And I absolutely believe that's the kind of thing Zohran Mamdani would do - no doubt!

BTW, his wife, Rama Duwaji(28 yrs), is pretty progressive too. She's an artist whose artwork is primarily black & white and political, including stuff on our gov't & the Palestinian struggle etc etc.
From my reading they make a strong couple. He'll need her strength.