Wrong number.
Zohran Mamdani won’t be New York City’s 111th mayor as frequently described — he’ll actually be its 112th, historians contend.
A deep dive into the Big Apple’s dusty records recently confirmed its mayors have been misnumbered for centuries, according to city Department of Records researcher Michael Lorenzini.
Zohran Mamdani has been frequently referred to as the Big Apple’s incoming 111th mayor — but historians say he’s actually the 112th. Stephen Yang for NY Post
The official list of city leaders failed to note the second, non-consecutive term of Mayor Matthias Nicolls from 1674 to 1675 — an error that caused the Hizzoner count to be off by one, Lorenzini detailed in a blog post last week.
“One thing for certain is he is not Mayor 111,” he wrote about Mamdani.
The mayoral miscount had been noted by archivists as far back as 1989, but came to public prominence with the research of historian Paul Hortenstine, first highlighted by Gothamist early this month.
Hortenstine discovered records referencing Nicolls’ forgotten second term, a revelation that took added importance as Mamdani clinched victory in the Nov. 4 election and is poised to take office on New Year’s Day.
The research done by Lorenzini confirmed the miscount, and attributed it to a “hiccup” in the city’s early history.
The city in 1673 briefly returned to Dutch control after years as an English colony, leaving it without an actual “Mayor of New York,” Lorenzini wrote.
The colony went back to the English in 1674, with Nicolls — who previously served as mayor — being reappointed to the leadership post.
Historians found the second, non-consecutive term of Mathias Nicolls in 1674 has not been counted in the official record. New York County Clerk
“Moreover, Nicolls had not been Mayor when the Dutch invaded, his successor, John Lawrence, had assumed that role,” Lorenzini wrote. “So, by all rights, Nicolls served two non-consecutive terms with another Mayor in the middle, making him Mayor #6 and #8.”
Lorenzini noted the Hizzoner count — as documented in the city’s “Green Book” — does not include Dutch mayoral analogues called “Burgomasters” or those later who served as “acting mayors.”
Counting the Dutch Burgomasters as mayors, for example, could make Mamdani the city’s 133th chief executive, Lorenzini wrote.
“The initial question was, should Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani be counted as the 111th or 112th? But the answer has proven far more complex,” he wrote.
“By our current Anglo-centric numbering practice (not including Acting Mayors) it does appear that on January 1, 2026, Mayor Mamdani should be Mayor number 112,” Lorenzini said.
Mamdani’s team didn’t return a request for comment.
Ken Cobb, assistant commissioner for the Department of Records and Information Services, emphasized that the oft-cited number of New York City mayors is arbitrary.
Like Lorenzini, he noted the Dutch mayor-equivalent Burgomasters aren’t included in the traditional count, nor are acting mayors such as Joseph V. McKee – who took over when scandal-scarred Jimmy Walker fled the city in 1932.
“The count only focuses on Manhattan mayors, and does not include mayors of the City of Brooklyn or other towns prior to 1898 when the Greater City of New York was established,” Cobb said in a statement.
“Given the complex history of the City’s leadership, there should be a full accounting and an official number established that takes all of these factors into account.”