First Muslim Mayor Sworn In Underground at City Hall, Promises to Govern ‘Expansively and Audaciously’ in Inaugural Speech
Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city’s striving, struggling working class.
Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim mayor.
After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.
“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” Mamdani told a cheering crowd.
“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he said.
Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.
Mamdani wasted little time getting to work after the event.
He revoked multiple executive orders issued by the previous administration since Sept. 26, 2024, the date federal authorities announced former Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on corruption charges, which were later dismissed following intervention by the Trump administration.
He then visited an apartment building in Brooklyn to announce he is revitalizing a city office dedicated to protecting tenants and creating two task forces focused on housing construction.
Throughout the daytime ceremony, Mamdani and other speakers returned repeatedly to the theme that carried him to victory in the election: using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city’s high cost of living.
Mamdani peppered his remarks with references to those New Yorkers, citing workers in steel-toed boots, halal cart vendors “whose knees ache from working all day,” and cooks “wielding a thousand spices.”
“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed ‘radical.’”
Before administering the oath, Sanders told the crowd that most of the things Mamdani wants to do — including raising taxes on the rich — aren’t radical at all.
“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” Sanders said. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”
Mamdani was accompanied on stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. Adams was also in attendance, seated near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.
Actor Mandy Patinkin sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was delivered by Imam Khalid Latif, director of the Islamic Center of New York City, and poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem titled “Proof.”
In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first mayor of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, he is the youngest mayor New York City has seen in generations.
At the Broadway watch party, onlookers stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing up at jumbotrons and singing and dancing to ward off the cold as volunteers passed out hot cocoa and hand warmers. Many said they felt they were witnessing history.
Among them was Ariel Segura, a 16-year-old Bronx resident who arrived five hours early to secure a spot near the front.
“I’m out here fan-girling a politician, it’s kind of crazy,” Segura said, wiping away tears as Mamdani concluded his speech. “Now it’s time to hold him accountable.”
Running a campaign that helped turn “affordability” into a buzzword across the political spectrum, Mamdani centered his platform on promises of free child care, free bus service, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot program for city-run grocery stores.
In his inaugural address, Mamdani insisted he would not squander the opportunity to deliver on those policies.
“A moment like this comes rarely,” he said. “Seldom do we hold such an opportunity to transform and reinvent. Rarer still is it the people themselves whose hands are on the levers of change.”
At the same time, Mamdani acknowledged the everyday realities of governing the nation’s largest city, from trash collection and snow removal to subway delays and potholes.
“They want to know if the left can govern,” he said. “They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved. They want to know if it is right to hope again.”
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, and he later became an American citizen in 2018.
After working on political campaigns, he won a state Assembly seat in Queens in 2020, setting the stage for his rapid rise to City Hall.
He and his wife will now leave their one-bedroom, rent-stabilized apartment in the outer boroughs to move into the mayoral residence in Manhattan.
The new mayor inherits a city that has rebounded in many ways from the COVID-19 pandemic, with crime, tourism, and unemployment returning to pre-pandemic levels. Still, high prices and rising rents remain pressing concerns.
During the campaign, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding if Mamdani won, but later invited him to the White House for a cordial meeting. Despite that, tensions are expected to resurface, particularly over immigration policy.
Several speakers at the inauguration criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and expressed hope that Mamdani’s City Hall would support immigrant communities.
Mamdani also faces skepticism from parts of the city’s Jewish community over his criticism of Israel’s government, though supporters in the crowd said they believe he can be a unifying figure.
“There are moments where everyone in New York comes together,” said Mary Hammann, a 64-year-old musician with the Metropolitan Opera. “This feels like one of those moments — just colder.”
