HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) \u2014 New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday he will move into the official mayoral residence.<\/p>\n
He said in a social media post that living in Gracie Mansion is best for his family\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife Rama and I have made the decision to move into Gracie Mansion in January,\u201d Mamdani wrote <\/a>on Instagram. <\/p>\n \u201cWe will miss much about our home in Astoria. Cooking dinner side by side in our kitchen, sharing a sleepy elevator ride with our neighbors in the evening, hearing music and laughter vibrate through the walls of the apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani has lived in a one-bedroom Queens apartment for several years. His move to Gracie Mansion, located in Manhattan, will be an upgrade. It has five bedrooms, a ballroom and multiple other spaces for events.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s apartment is rent-stabilized at $2,300 a month, which he and his election opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, argued <\/a>about during campaign season. Cuomo said Mamdani has benefited from laws intended for less wealthy people, although Mamdani has dismissed his concerns. The mayor-elect said in his Instagram post that his neighborhood showed him and his wife the best of New York City.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have called this neighborhood home as our city weathered a devastating pandemic, cruel attacks on immigrants, and years of an affordability crisis. Time and again, this community has shown up for one another,\u201d Mamdani <\/a>wrote. \u201cWe will miss it all \u2014 the endless Adeni chai, the spirited conversations in Spanish, Arabic and every language in between, the aromas of seafood and shawarma drifting down the block.\u201d<\/p>\n Most mayors have lived in Gracie Mansion since it became the official residence in 1942. Michael Bloomberg, who was head of the city from 2002 to 2013, instead stayed in his private home. He didn\u2019t believe mayors should live at the mansion.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a mayor’s family is living there, then most of that house \u2013 a good half of it \u2013 is just not available,\u201d Bloomberg reportedly said in 2012. \u201cIf a mayor lives there, then what they’re doing is costing this city a lot more money and depriving the rest of the city of one of the great facilities any city has.”<\/p>\n Some officials disagreed. John Liu, who was a city comptroller and candidate in the 2013 mayoral election, said Bloomberg\u2019s suggestions were similar to asking the president to move out of the White House. <\/p>\n Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n