{"id":86298,"date":"2026-01-01T06:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86298\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T06:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:30:28","slug":"zohran-mamdani-sworn-in-as-new-york-city-mayor-at-historic-subway-station-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86298\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at historic subway station"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 Zohran Mamdani<\/a> became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath of office at an historic, decommissioned subway station in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in as the first Muslim leader of America\u2019s biggest city, placing his hand on a Quran<\/a> as he took his oath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,\u201d Mamdani said in a brief speech. <\/p>\n

The private ceremony, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a political ally, took place at the old City Hall station, one of the city\u2019s original subway stops that is known for its stunning arched ceilings.<\/p>\n

In Mamdani’s first remarks as mayor, he said the old subway station was a \u201ctestament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city” as he announced the appointment of his new Department of Transportation commissioner, Mike Flynn.<\/p>\n

The new mayor then closed: \u201cThank you all so much, now I will see you later,\u201d he said with a smile before heading up a flight of stairs. <\/p>\n

Mamdani will be sworn in again, in grander style, in a public ceremony at City Hall at 1 p.m. by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor\u2019s political heroes. That will be followed by what his office is billing as a public block party on a stretch of Broadway known as the \u201cCanyon of Heroes,\u201d famous for its ticker-tape parades. <\/p>\n

Mamdani now begins one of the most unrelenting jobs<\/a> in American politics as one of the country\u2019s most-watched politicians. <\/p>\n

In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city\u2019s youngest mayor in generations. <\/p>\n

In a campaign that helped make \u201caffordability\u201d a buzzword across the political spectrum, the democratic socialist promised to bring transformative change with policies intended to lower the cost of living in one of the world\u2019s most expensive cities. His platform included free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households, and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.<\/p>\n

But he will also have to face other responsibilities: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes. <\/p>\n

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9\/11 city where Muslims didn\u2019t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.<\/p>\n

He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens. <\/p>\n

Mamdani and his wife<\/a>, Rama Duwaji, will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment<\/a> in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Mamdani inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels. <\/p>\n

Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents in the city. <\/p>\n

He\u2019ll also have to deal with Republican President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n

During the mayoral race, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city. <\/p>\n

But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to the White House for what ended up being<\/a> a cordial meeting in November. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.<\/p>\n

Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city\u2019s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

The new mayor and his team have spent the weeks since his election victory preparing for the transition, surrounding Mamdani with seasoned hands who have worked inside or alongside city government. <\/p>\n

That included persuading the city\u2019s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to remain in her position \u2014 a move that helped calm fears in the business community that the administration might be planning radical changes in policing strategy.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2013 Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City just after midnight Thursday, taking the oath…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5057,153,5302,398,18695,41854,9,24,55,54,56,87,421,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-86298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-bernie-sanders","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-jessica-tisch","11":"tag-letitia-james","12":"tag-mahmood-mamdani","13":"tag-michael-flynn","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","17":"tag-new-york-city-news","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-u-s-news","21":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}