Officially taking the helm Thursday, Zohran Mamdani is the city’s newly minted mayor.

As the leader of New York City, he represents 8.5 million people, heads a municipal workforce of more than 300,000 workers and is in charge of the city’s nearly $116 billion budget.

What You Need To Know

A then 33-year-old Democratic-socialist, Zohran Mamdani pitched his experience, dappled with some successes, like negotiating a free bus pilot program and securing millions in debt relief for struggling taxi cab drivers, despite only passing three bills during his tenure as Astoria’s assemblyman

His platform was straightforward: “fast and free” MTA buses, freezing payments for more than 1 million rent-stabilized tenants and free universal childcare

Mamdani’s use of social media helped him stand out in a crowded primary field, which had been assumed to be led by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo

In the past few weeks, Mamdani’s focus has been on hiring — with his transition team attracting more than 70,000 resumes

But back in October 2024, he was a relatively unknown State Assemblyman fighting for space in a crowded Democratic primary field.

“Cost of living is the real crisis. A mayor could change this, and that’s why I’m running,” Mamdani said in his campaign announcement video.

“I believe that a mayor is at its core a delegator, a liaison and a messenger,” Mamdani said in an interview on “Inside City Hall” on Oct. 25, 2024 — days after launching his then-longshot bid.

A then 33-year-old Democratic-socialist, Mamdani pitched his experience, dappled with some successes, like negotiating a free bus pilot program and securing millions in debt relief for struggling taxi cab drivers, despite only passing three bills during his tenure as Astoria’s assemblyman.

Mamdani’s use of social media helped him stand out in a crowded primary field, which had been assumed to be led by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

One of his early campaign ads highlighted voters from neighborhoods with high turnout for President Donald Trump. They said affordability was their top concern.

“Three marquee policies that all feed into the central theme and message of the campaign, which is that the cost of living is crushing people, government can and must do more,” Andrew Epstein, Mamdani’s campaign communications director and current senior advisor, said.

His platform was straightforward: “fast and free” MTA buses, freezing payments for more than 1 million rent-stabilized tenants and free universal childcare.

“I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of NYC,” said Mamdani during his primary night victory speech.

Mamdani’s primary win forced Democrats to reckon with whether he could be the future of the party, but also put his controversial stance on the Israel-Hamas war, past comments on “defunding the police” and support of a tax on the wealthy under the microscope.

Still, on election night, he defeated Cuomo for a second time with more than 50% of the vote.

“No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election!” Mamdani said during his election night speech.

Weeks later, on Nov. 21, he went down to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Trump — who once called him a communist — but hours later had surprisingly changed his tone.

“The better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said after the meeting.

But after their Oval Office meeting, a top adviser told NY1 that immigration will still be a major disagreement.

“We will uphold sanctuary laws in our city, and all immigrants will be safe in our city,” Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani’s chief of staff, told NY1 after the meeting.

In the past few weeks, Mamdani’s focus has been on hiring — with his transition team attracting more than 70,000 resumes.

Although one key appointment, Catherine Da Costa, resigned after her past antisemitic statements were uncovered.

Now, Mamdani will need to balance the city’s $116 billion budget, plus get the governor and state legislature on board with his big ideas.

“The cynicism that people have towards government is well-earned. We want to break through that by actually delivering on the things we ran on,” Epstein said.