Hundreds gathered near Washington Square Park on Sunday for a Zohran Mamdani look-alike contest. (Photo: @Complex_)
Actor and comedian Amadeo Fusca, 40, won the $100 prize in a New York Knicks jersey paired with formalwear, a Mamdani-style haircut and similar facial hair. And then when [Mamdani] won [the mayor’s race], it was just insane, the messages I was getting,” he said.
The actor, who has appeared in episodes of “NCIS” and the film “The Alto Knights,” has drawn millions of views with social-media sketches impersonating the mayor. He said the act began during Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, when friends repeatedly sent him photographs pointing out their resemblance. “It was kind of the perfect storm of people constantly hitting me up,” Fusca told the New York Post after his win. “I went to the barber that morning and said, ‘Here, cut my hair, and make me look like this now. Fusca, who lives only a few blocks from Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said the reactions exceeded what he had expected. “People were reacting like crazy, beyond what I even thought,” he said.
His outfit echoed one worn by the mayor after the Knicks’ NBA Finals victory. Fusca had already turned his resemblance to Mamdani into a recurring act before entering Sunday’s contest. Amadeo Fusca, winner of the Zohran Mamdani look-alike contest, reacts with the crowd. (Photo: AP) “The funny thing is, I was growing my hair, and I was like, ‘No, I’m growing my hair, I don’t really want to do that. And like, I have to look like this all the time now! The impersonation later began drawing attention at Knicks watch parties. “We just kept going to watch parties, and I kept inhabiting this field of people. It’s crazy how happy people get.”
Others added bicycle helmets, referencing a more recent episode involving the mayor. Sonder, a social platform for meeting new people, sponsored the event.
Mamdani began wearing one earlier in August after facing criticism for cycling without a helmet.