When Zohran Mamdani’s first TV ad of the general election went live last week, the first person viewers saw was an 83-year-old Jewish woman from the Upper West Side.

Rosalind Petchesky, a retired political scientist and progressive activist, has become a recurring star of Mamdani’s social media video campaign, which is widely seen as crucial to vaulting him from a local politician in Queens to the frontrunner for mayor.

“I used to love New York,” Petchesky says at the beginning of the 30-second spot . “But now, it’s just where I live.”

The ad then shifts to a hopeful tone centered around Mamdani’s message of affordability, with the title, “Things Can Change.”

The real-life Petchesky says the sentiment didn’t actually resonate with her. “I kept thinking, ‘I wouldn’t say I used

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