New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani was officially sworn in as the 111th mayor of the nation’s largest city early Thursday, aiming to implement the innovative and progressive platform he campaigned on.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James swore in Mandani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, in a small ceremony with his family shortly after midnight. Supporters counted down the seconds.
“This is truly an honor and a once-in-a-lifetime privilege,” Mamdani said during the swearing-in ceremony at the Old City Hall IRT subway station, which closed in 1945.
Mamdani ran on a platform supporting public transport. He said the brilliant station was “a testament to the importance of public transport to the vitality, health and heritage of our city”.
Mamdani took the oath with two Qurans in hand. One book belonged to my grandfather, and the other belonged to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. According to the library system, the library’s books appear to have been created in Syria during the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s.
A large inauguration ceremony and block party will be held in Mamdani later Thursday, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (R-Vt.) will administer the ceremonial public oath of office as the new mayor. Mamdani said 4,000 people were invited to the ceremony, but the block party was open to “anyone.”
“As we celebrate the inauguration of our government, we wanted to make sure that it was actually a celebration for everyone, not just the average people who are invited to the inauguration,” Mamdani told reporters during a preview of the event at a press conference last week.
“This is not my success, it is our success. It is not my administration, it is our administration. Likewise, this is not my inauguration. It is for all of us,” Mamdani added.
Mamdani said he was confident that the staff and appointed officials would be in place on time to begin the administration’s work.
“We’re going to put in place the staffing that we need to not only meet our affordability goals, but to start providing, frankly, the day-to-day services that New Yorkers need,” Mamdani told reporters.
The next important date in the early days of Mamdani’s administration will be Jan. 7, the first day of the 2026 Albany, New York State Legislature.
Mamdani campaigned last year on an ambitious agenda aimed at lowering costs for New Yorkers, including promises to make child care universal and free, introduce a free bus system and freeze rent prices on some rental homes in the city.
Mamdani said the bulk of the funding for his agenda would come from tax increases on New Yorkers making more than $1 million. But to raise city taxes, the new mayor would need approval from state leaders.
While Democratic leaders in Congress have historically been willing to raise taxes on high-income individuals and businesses, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has always been adamantly opposed to raising taxes on all New York residents.
Hochul, who is running for reelection this year, said in a recent interview that he may find other sources of revenue, such as higher corporate taxes, to fund statewide Democratic priorities.
“No matter who the mayor is, it’s my job as governor to make sure they’re successful,” Hochul told WNYW-TV in December.
“Work is progressing on the budget, and we’ll be working with legislators over the next few months to find ways to chip away at what we need to do, including what we can do this year and next,” she added.
Phil Helsel and The Associated Press contributed.
