Mayor-elect Mamdani to be sworn in at abandoned subway station

CITY HALL— MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI WILL TAKE HIS OATH OF OFFICE AT THE ORIGINAL CITY HALL SUBWAY STATION just after midnight on New Year’s Day, according to Streetsblog NYC.

Mamdani’s choice of location is being described as a tribute to the city’s history and an official act that symbolically launches a new chapter for New York, while demonstrating his new administration’s commitment to transit riders.

Old City Hall Station first opened in 1904 and was one of the city’s 28 original subway stations. Although the site hasn’t been in use for eight decades, the station has remained in decent shape, which Streetsblog NYC attributes to the lack of foot traffic. The New York Transit Museum offers tours of the original station, and commuters can view it by remaining on a downtown 6 train as it loops back uptown.

Two Brooklynites will administer the oath of office to Mamdani: New York Attorney General Letitia James, who served as city councilmember for the 35th District and later as public advocate, will administer the 12:01 a.m. ceremony. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who grew up in Midwood, and attended Public School 197 and Brooklyn College before transferring to the University of Chicago, will preside at a 1 p.m. City Hall ceremony.

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