Saying the subway system is the lifeblood of New York City, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday he will take the oath of office in a private ceremony at midnight Jan. 1 at the Old City Hall station in Manhattan.
Last week, the mayor-elect’s team said Mamdani would first be administered the midnight oath by state Attorney General Letitia James in a private ceremony, then would be administered the oath by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a public ceremony before 4,000 ticketed guests at City Hall Plaza on New Year’s Day.
The latter will include what the Mamdani team is calling “a public block party” for thousands of New Yorkers, with dedicated viewing areas along Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan.
In announcing the venue for the private oath of office ceremony, Mamdani, in a statement released Monday, said: “When Old City Hall Station first opened in 1904 — one of New York’s original subway stations — it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working people’s lives. That ambition need not be a memory confined only to our past, nor must it be isolated only to the tunnels beneath City Hall: it will be the purpose of the administration fortunate enough to serve New Yorkers from the building above.”
The Old City Hall station, as seen when it was open to the public during its 100th anniversary in 2004. (Newsday Photo/Alan Raia) Credit: Newsday-Staff/Alan Raia
The statement continued: “When I take my oath from the station at the dawn of the New Year, I will do so humbled by the opportunity to lead millions of New Yorkers into a new era of opportunity, and honored to carry forward our city’s legacy of greatness.”
The station, one of the original subway stations in New York City, was decommissioned 80 years ago — on Dec. 31, 1945 — because its tight radius made it unsuitable and unsafe for modern train cars.
While the track remains active as a turnaround loop for the 6 train, access to the station and its platform is now available only through special appointment — or via tours offered by the New York Transit Museum.
According to the Transit Museum website: “Only New York Transit Museum members have the exclusive opportunity to step inside this landmark through guided tours, and discover its elegant chandeliers, leaded skylights, vaulted tile ceiling, and sweeping structural curves.”
The City Hall Subway Station, taken around its construction in 1904. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Universal History Archive
The tour, which lasts about 90 minutes, begins above ground with a presentation of the history of Alfred Beach’s pneumatic tube and the development of the subway system, then heads underground to explore the station — a station designed by renowned architects George Heins and Christopher LaFarge.
The station is a designated New York City landmark. It also is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee’pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.