Rama Duwaji attends Whitney Museum winter fund-raiser
Rama Duwaji, New York City’s first lady, attended the Whitney Museum’s winter fund-raising party on Tuesday night, Jan. 28, 2026, at the museum on Gansevoort Street in Lower Manhattan. Ms. Duwaji, 28, recently took residence in Gracie Mansion with her husband, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who was elected nearly three months earlier.
The party brought together young artists, writers and musicians who loosened up with margaritas and danced to a D.J. spinning hits by Shakira and Donna Summer. Celebrities including Martha Stewart, the Dare and Ego Nwodim appeared on the red carpet; Ms. Duwaji slipped in discreetly, declined red-carpet photos, wore a leopard-print jacket and black boots, nursed a beverage and greeted young New Yorkers while a security detail kept watch.
Ms. Duwaji, an illustrator of Syrian descent known for pen-and-ink portraits that focus on Middle Eastern life and diasporic experience, made one of her first notable public appearances of the new year at the event. Attendees noted the significance of having an artist in Gracie Mansion: "We have an artist first lady now," comedian Dan Mahboubian Rosen said, adding that she could be an ambassador for the arts and draw attention to smaller galleries and museums.
As the crowd grew rowdy, servers carried trays of mac and cheese croquettes and baby baja fish tacos through the galleries. Writer Nicolaia Rips and her mother, sculptor Sheila Berger, said they appreciated the Whitneys focus on supporting emerging artists; Ms.
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