What to know
- Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow met New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the 2026 Urban 20 Mayors Summit, where they discussed affordability and improving city services.
- Chow described the pair as “two progressive mayors,” and their meeting sparked significant reactions from Torontonians online, ranging from enthusiastic support to calls for Chow to adopt some of Mamdani’s approaches.
- The U20 summit focused on shared urban issues including affordable housing, homelessness, climate action, sustainability and protecting immigrant communities.
- Toronto was also named one of 10 recipients of a $400,000 USD Global Cities Fund grant to launch a two-year pop-up sports program expected to reach more than 20,000 participants annually.
Toronto and New York City mayors Olivia Chow and Zohran Mamdani connected at a leadership conference over the weekend, and the pair’s meet-up had Torontonians asking for more.
The Urban 20 (U20) Mayors Summit is an annual diplomacy initiative that brings the leaders from each major G20 city to discuss priorities amongst each other.
This year, the event was hosted by U20’s co-chair cities, New York City and Los Angeles, bringing dozens of leaders to the U.S., including Toronto’s very own Chow getting an invite.
In a social media post, Chow shared that she had the opportunity to speak with Mamdani one-on-one, where they discussed ideas for improving service delivery and affordability for residents.
“As two progressive mayors, we will deliver change for the citizens of our progressive cities,” she wrote in part.
The event highlighted shared issues between cities, including affordable housing and homelessness, climate action, sustainability, protecting immigrant communities as well as human mobility.
Toronto reaction
The meeting created a buzz with Toronto residents, with many reacting across social media.
Some Torontonians shared positive messages.
“COLLAB OF THE CENTURY,” one TikTok user wrote.
“My mayor met my mayor,” another TikTok user wrote, continuing with a long-running online joke where everyone outside of New York City has also adopted Mamdani as their honorary mayor.
“Chow’s team knew what they were doing when posting this,” a different TikTok user wrote.
The meeting also sparked reactions to both of the leaders’ mayoral styles.
“I like it! I bet they have more in common than not,” one Reddit user said.
Another Reddit user noted how historic the meeting was.
“Two POC immigrants now running the biggest city in [the] U.S. & Canada is impressive,” they explained. “Good for them, hope they represent well and are people we can ALL be proud of.”
“Love it! Two mayors that have a common interest in helping their communities,” another Reddit user said.
Not everyone was positive about the meet-up.
“LEARN FROM HIM,” one TikTok user directed at Chow.
“Hope you were taking notes,” another TikTok user agreed.
“Be more like him,” a different TikTok user said.
Despite some negative reaction, many supporters were excited to see the pair meeting among other leaders.
During the U20 event, Toronto was announced as one of 10 recipients of a $400,000 USD grant from the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees.
The money would help to launch Play Mobile for Newcomers, a two-year recreation program expected to reach more than 20,000 participants annually, including about 6,000 newcomers.
