Zohran Mamdani sworn in as mayor of New York City | Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor of New York City shortly after midnight in a private ceremony held in an abandoned Beaux Arts subway station; this was the beginning of day-long celebrations that would include a second public swearing-in ceremony and a block party in front of city hall.
Mamdani, 34, was sworn into office by New York attorney general Letitia James; He was surrounded by his wife, Rama Duwaji, immediate family members, including his mother and filmmaker Mira Nair, and his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a professor of Africana studies at Columbia University.
“This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
“I can’t wait to see everyone as we start our term tomorrow.
“After taking the oath of office to become mayor of New York City, I am also doing so here at the old City Hall subway station, a testament to the importance of public transportation to the vitality, health and heritage of our city.”
Mamdani then announced and welcomed the city’s new transportation commissioner, veteran urban planner Mike Flynn; The mayor said he wants to make New York’s public transportation network “the envy of the world.” Flynn said he accepted his “life’s work.”
“Thank you all very much… and I’ll see you later,” Mamdani said to the laughter of the audience, before ascending the wide subway stairs where she took the oath with the participants.
The ceremony was also attended by outgoing mayor Eric Adams, who declined to commit to attending but later said he “wanted to be there to demonstrate a smooth, peaceful transition of power.”
Mamdani vowed to use the Quran, Islam’s holiest book, to honor the Muslim faith, becoming the first mayor in New York City to do so. According to the New York Times, he swore with his hand at midnight on his grandfather’s Quran, which belonged to black writer and historian Arturo Schomburg and was loaned to the mayor by the New York public library.
Also in attendance was a diverse cast of Mamdani New Yorkers selected for the inaugural committee, including actor John Turturro, playwright Cole Escola and author Colson Whitehead, as well as advocates, small business owners and campaign workers who the new mayor’s office said “provided perspective, guidance and cultural sensitivity” for the ceremony.
The midnight ceremony will be followed by a public event at 1 p.m., where the new mayor will be introduced by political ally and Bronx Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sworn in by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
Mamdani’s office said his choice to be sworn in at the old city hall subway station reflects his “commitment to the working people who keep our city running every day.”
“When it first opened in 1904, Old City Hall Station, one of New York’s 28 original subway stations, was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would change the lives of working people,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“This ambition need not be a memory limited only to our past.”
The day’s events are the culmination of a remarkable rise to power in the United States’ most populous city for the Democratic Socialist party represented by Mamdani, who was elected as both a political unknown and a Democrat.
The first signs of Mamdani’s potential with voters came ahead of the primary earlier this year, when she unseated former governor Andrew Cuomo, who later ran as an independent candidate. Adams, who was under scrutiny from federal prosecutors at the time, chose not to seek the Democratic nomination.
In April, Mamdani was trailing Cuomo 36% to 64%. These figures changed after Mamdani’s conscious political campaign went viral on social media; Their strong grassroots efforts appeared to energize first-time voters struggling with the high cost of living in the post-pandemic city.
A campaign spokesman said Mamdani’s success was credited to her “ubiquitous presence,” more than 10,000 volunteers knocking on more than 100,000 doors and touting a platform of affordability, rent freezes, free subway transportation and city-run grocery stores, as well as the creation of a community safety department to invest in mental health programs citywide.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic campaign veteran, said Mamdani “represents the city of the future, a more Asian city, a more Muslim city, a more leftist city.”
In November, the then-state assemblyman won the election with 50.78% of the vote, defeating Republican activist Curtis Sliwa and Cuomo. In his victory speech, Mamdani spoke of his commitment to working New Yorkers who normally do not have access to the tools of power.
“Let the words we say together, the dreams we dream together, be the agenda we realize together,” he said. “New York, this power belongs to you. This city belongs to you.”
