Rama Duwaji Breaks Her Silence, Weighing Fame and Power as She Shapes Her Role as NYC’s First Lady.Ng2

New York City’s incoming first lady, Rama Duwaji, griped at how she’s widely become known as “Zohran Mamdani’s wife” and not for her art — as she vowed not to give up her day job when she takes on official duties.

The 28-year-old illustrator lamented her newfound fame in a fawning profile published by New York Magazine on Tuesday, insisting she would be “absolutely” focused on her career after her husband’s inauguration on January 1.

“I’m definitely not stopping that. Come January, it’s something that I want to continue to do,” she said.

Duwaji, who didn’t give any interviews during her socialist husband’s mayoral campaign, hinted that she would use her new platform to support undiscovered artists.

“At the end of the day, I’m not a politician.

I’m here to be a support system for Z and to use the role in the best way that I can as an artist,” she said in the wide-ranging interview, using her nickname for Mamdani.

“There are so many artists trying to make it in the city — so many talented, undiscovered artists making the work with no instant validation, using their last paycheck on material,” Duwaji said.

“I think using this position to highlight them and give them a platform is a top priority.”

Duwaji also addressed being put under the microscope as her husband’s popularity surged – and how she’s been forced to accept she is no longer just a private citizen.

“I realized that it was not just his thing but our thing,” Duwaji said in the gushing piece.

“I wasn’t necessarily offended, but it was more the perception of being seen as someone’s wife. I was spiraling about how, that night, the first article to come out was like, ‘Who Is Zohran Mamdani’s Wife?’ Blah, blah, blah, blah.

“And I was so upset because that one article showed up when you searched my name and not an interview I did on my art, or my work, or the things that I’ve done and the achievements that I’ve had as an artist,” she said.

“And now there’s, like, a bajillion of them.”

Despite the complaints about her newfound fame, the magazine noted how Duwaji has attracted a legion of fan girls on TikTok and other social media platforms since being thrust into the spotlight.

The piece went as far as noting Duwaji’s black turtleneck attire and pixie haircut was dubbed “fall’s new ‘cool girl’ look” by Vogue.

The NY Mag reporter also told Duwaji women have been asking hairstylists for “the Rama,” according to an apparent TikTok trend.

“I didn’t know if that was a real thing,” Duwaji said in response.

Even though she was largely mum as Mamdani grabbed headlines and sparked controversy for his far-left political stances, Duwaji confessed she, too, was obsessed with politics.

“Speaking out about Palestine, Syria, Sudan — all these things are really important to me,” she said.

“I’m always keeping up to date with what’s going on, not just here but elsewhere.

It feels fake to talk about anything else when that’s all that’s on my mind, all I want to put down on paper.

“Everything is political,” she said.

“It’s the thing that I talk about with Z… and my friends, the thing that I’m up to date with every morning, which is probably not great for my mental health.

It’s what I talk about when I check on my family back home.”

In addition to shedding light on her priorities as first lady, Duwaji also addressed the couple’s decision to relocate from their rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens to Gracie Mansion.

“It’ll be fine,” she said after taking what the reporter described as a deflated breath.

“I’ll be down the street from the Guggenheim and the Met.

It’ll be really nice to just explore a new part of the city… And I’m right across the river from Astoria still, so it doesn’t feel too far away.”

At one point in the interview, the artist also bizarrely acknowledged how she loved to ask others as an icebreaker what type of fruit they consider themselves to be.

Despite previously describing herself as a raspberry because they’re “sweet and tart”, Duwaji said the campaign and subsequent scrutiny had turned her into a lychee given they have a “slightly hardened shell but still open and soft on the inside.”