Zohran Mamdani vowed to \u201creinvent\u201d New York City in a speech on his first day as mayor, promising \u201ca new era\u201d for America\u2019s largest city and an ambitious start to his term of office.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old political star and democratic socialist, who a year ago was a virtually unknown state assemblyman, is the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor, the first of south Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. He is also the first to be sworn in using the Qur\u2019an.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said a \u201cmoment like this comes rarely and rarer still is it that the people themselves whose hands are upon the levers of change\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said that in writing his remarks, he was advised to lower expectations. \u201cI will do no such thing,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cThe only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani did not shy away from his socialist politics. \u201cI was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist. I will not abandon my principles for fear of being called radical,\u201d he said to loud cheers from the gathered crowd.<\/p>\n
He ended by saying: \u201cThe work has only just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours after the ceremony, Mamdani revoked all executive orders issued by Adams after 26 September 2024, when the former mayor was indicted on federal corruption charges, later dropped by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
The overturned orders include a directive last month that prohibited mayoral appointees and staff \u201cfrom boycotting and disinvesting from Israel and protecting New Yorkers\u2019 rights to free exercise of religion without harassment at houses of worship\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s office said<\/a> the order was issued to ensure \u201ca fresh start for the incoming administration and reissues executive orders that the administration feels are central to delivering continued service, excellence, and value-driven leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n Mamdani later said he planned to reissue certain orders\u200b, including the Office to Combat Antisemitism\u200b that Adams created in May last year.<\/p>\n It was the second of a two-part ceremony after Mamdani was sworn in at midnight on Thursday in a disused subway station, where he was flanked by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and his wife, Rama Duwaji, a 28-year-old animator and illustrator.<\/p>\n On the steps of city hall on a bitterly cold January day, Mamdani was introduced by the Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a>, a democratic socialist ally who is edging toward a run for the White House in 2028.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have chosen courage over fear. We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez said in her remarks. \u201cWe have chosen to make a new future for all of us, we have chosen a mayor who is relentlessly dedicated to make life not just possible but aspirational for working people \u2026 we have chosen that over the distractions of bigotry and the barbarism of extreme inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n