In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 election, the Retired Teachers Chapter held a dozen afternoon phone banks at UFT headquarters in Manhattan, where RTC members urged fellow retirees to vote for Zohran Mamdani and the union’s other endorsed candidates.

Ronni Engelmyer, who was volunteering at the Oct. 1 RTC phone bank, said the Democratic candidate for New York City mayor expresses himself well, wants to help people and has younger voters excited about politics.

“That’s important. We have a lot of young people who just don’t vote,” said Engelmyer, who has been making calls for the UFT and the American Federation of Teachers since retiring from teaching in 2013.

The RTC has always had a solid network of members who volunteer for phone banks, and they came out for Mamdani, Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer said.

Donna Robin Lippman, a retired teacher who went on to get her master’s in social work, said democracy is like maintaining a house. “If you don’t take care of it, it’s going to fall apart,” she said.

Lippman said children are not learning the importance of civic engagement, and many adults are apathetic, too. “I’m a retired teacher, but this is my power,” she said. “I can make phone calls, I can call my elected officials, I can join organizations that amplify my voice.”

Judith Ackerman, a retired paraprofessional, said it’s time for new leadership in New York City that represents the younger generation. “The minute this young man said he’s going to run, I said, ‘I’m going with you,’” she said of Mamdani.

Retired teacher Helen Dixon said she signed up for three of the phone banks to support the UFT. “I believe in unions,” she said. “I believe that they are here to protect our rights, to make sure we get what we’re supposed to get, what we deserve to get after all our years of service.”

Mamdani is young and has many innovative ideas, “and it’s time for something new, something different,” she said.