The protests started at Gracie Mansion which functions as the official residence of the mayor because New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced demonstrations after US Justice Department records from the Jeffrey Epstein case revealed his mother filmmaker Mira Nair had been mentioned.

People from the community created a demonstration outside the mayor’s house which appeared on social media through videos that showed them using a megaphone and chanting “shame.” Protesters accused Mamdani of creating false information about his voting records while they chanted about his mother and showed their frustration with his failure to provide complete information.

New documents about Epstein became available to the public which included an email that identified Nair as someone who attended a social event at Ghislaine Maxwell’s New York townhouse in 2009 which resulted in Maxwell receiving a conviction for her involvement in Epstein’s sex trafficking operations.

American publicist Peggy Siegal sent an email on October 21 2009 which described the gathering as an “after party” that took place after a film screening. The message mentioned several prominent figures, including former US president Bill Clinton, entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, filmmaker Mira Nair, and other well-known personalities. The email did not mention which film but it is believed to refer to Amelia (2009) which Nair directed as a biographical film that stars Hillary Swank and Richard Gere.

The development comes amid a major disclosure by the US Department of Justice, which on Friday released more than three million additional pages of Epstein-related records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The legislation was signed into law by President Donald Trump in November 2025. The latest release includes thousands of videos and images, bringing the total number of publicly available documents related to Epstein to nearly 3.5 million pages.

Officials said the records were compiled from multiple investigations, including criminal cases in Florida and New York involving Epstein, the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, inquiries into Epstein’s death, FBI investigations, and an Office of Inspector General probe.

Zohran Mamdani took office as New York City’s mayor on January 1, after winning the mayoral election against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. At 34, Mamdani became the youngest mayor in the city’s history and its first Muslim mayor, succeeding Eric Adams, who withdrew from the race but remained on the ballot.