Taylor Lorenz wants Zohran Mamdani to fix New York’s vegan cream cheese situation

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Taylor Lorenz has sounded the alarm on the state of vegan cream cheese at New York bagel shops.

The former Washington Post reporter took aim at the city’s bagel counters in a Sunday morning X post, arguing they’re behind the times and suggesting Mayor Zohran Mamdani should step in.

“NYC bagel shops need to get with the times. The bagels in LA suck, but all the LA bagel shops at least use cashew-based vegan cream cheese. NYC bagel shops almost never have vegan cc or they’re using hyper processed Tofutti [vomiting emoji]. I hope Zohran can remedy this,” wrote Lorenz, who recently returned to the Big Apple after moving to Los Angeles in 2020.

The complaint spread fast. Lorenz eventually muted replies to the thread as criticism piled up.

Lorenz backpedals on her claim

Lorenz insisted critics were overreacting while continuing to engage with the fallout.

“Right wingers and reactionary weirdos are all QTing this taking it so seriously and getting angry at the concept of vegan cream cheese,” she wrote.

“You guys couldn’t survive 5 minutes inside an Erewhon,” she added, invoking Erewhon, an upscale Los Angeles grocery chain that has become shorthand for aggressively premium wellness culture thanks to their eye-popping prices for smoothies and vegan products.

Soon after, Lorenz suggested the original post had been trolling all along.

She returned the next morning with a mirror-image version of the joke, only this time flipping the coastlines.

“LA bagel shops need to get with the times. The bagels in NYC aren’t all perfect, but the NYC bagel shops at least use standard everything bagel seasoning,” she wrote.

“LA bagel shops are putting stuff like chia seeds on their everything bagels [vomiting emoji]. I hope Nithya, Bass, or Pratt can remedy this,” Lorenz added, referencing Los Angeles politicians.

A few hours later, she posted a photo holding what appeared to be a distinctly West Coast-style everything bagel spread with what she presented as her preferred cashew-based vegan alternative.

However, replies to that post were closed too.

Mamdani's perfect New York bagel

While Lorenz was campaigning for better vegan spreads, Mamdani has previously offered his own thoughts on what makes a proper New York bagel.

During his inauguration remarks, he reflected on growing up in the city. “Where else could a Muslim kid like me eat bagels and lox on a Sunday?” he said.

When asked what defines a great bagel, Mamdani said his favorite is a lox bagel. However, he added that the ideal one should have “a little crackle” to it.

He said he grew up eating the poppy-seed bagel with scallion cream cheese from Absolute Bagels and said he was excited to revisit the shop after its reopening.

Mamdani also revealed his preferred pairing.

“I’m a sucker [for] pairing it with some pulp Tropicana. It’s just how I grew up,” he told PIX11 News.

He also gave a nod to the lox bagel at Apollo Bagels on Greenwich Avenue, calling it “very good.”

“You can’t really tell the story of New York City without telling the story of our bagels," Mamdani concluded.