Ever since the ball dropped in Times Square to welcome 2026, New Yorkers have scarcely had time to pause. Just hours into the new year, the city\u2019s political calendar turned a decisive page as Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor in a low-key ceremony tucked beneath City Hall.<\/p>\n
The private swearing-in took place on the steps of the historic City Hall subway station, a long-shuttered transit space closed to riders since 1945. New York State Attorney General Letitia James administered the oath as<\/p>\n
Mamdani stood alongside his wife, Rama Duwaji<\/a>, on a staircase inside the landmark station. He chose to be sworn in on two Qurans \u2014 one borrowed from the New York Public Library and another that belonged to his grandfather \u2014 blending civic duty with personal history.<\/p>\n That restrained opening gave way to a far more expansive public moment later on New Year\u2019s Day. Flipping the script, Mamdani repeated the oath on the steps of City Hall before a crowd that overflowed the plaza and spilled into surrounding streets. Despite biting cold, tens of thousands of supporters filled Lower Manhattan to watch the new mayor formally take office alongside City Comptroller Mark Levine and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, transforming the inauguration into a charged display of popular enthusiasm as the city embraced both a new year and new leadership.<\/p>\n The public ceremony also drew some of the Democratic Party\u2019s most prominent progressive voices.<\/p>\n READ: \u2018He\u2019s got the pulse of people\u2019: A friend reflects on Zohran Mamdani\u2019s rise<\/a> (November 4, 2025)<\/p>\n Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders stood alongside the city\u2019s new leadership, using the moment to frame Mamdani\u2019s victory as part of a broader movement with implications far beyond New York. Their speeches sketched out progressive governing priorities for the city while underscoring how the race has already rippled through political circles nationwide.<\/p>\n Sanders, who swore Mamdani<\/a> into office, struck a defiant note as he addressed the crowd. \u201cThe most important lesson that can be learned today is that when working people stand, when they don\u2019t let them [the ultra-wealthy] divide us up, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n s invited guests and reporters gathered within the City Hall grounds, the celebration extended well beyond the gates. The city hosted a seven-block-long public block party, a break from<\/a> the traditionally ticketed inauguration and a nod to the mass, street-level energy that defined the day.<\/p>\n That emphasis on inclusion carried through the ceremony itself. Mamdani, Williams, and Levine, each used their remarks to stress unity across New York\u2019s communities, speaking in multiple languages \u2014 English, Spanish, Hebrew and Greek \u2014 and sharing the stage with faith leaders representing Islam, Christianity and Judaism.<\/p>\n After being sworn in, Levine highlighted the symbolism of the moment. \u201cWe have three swearings-in. One by a leader using a Quran, one by a leader using a Christian Bible, and one using a Hebrew Bible. I am proud to live in a city where this is possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mamdani struck a similar note in his address, tying the diversity on display to his broader vision for the city. \u201cWe will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of New York yearn for solidarity, then let this government foster it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will deliver nothing less as we work each day to make this city belong to more of its people than it did the day before.\u201d<\/p>\n Running through the speeches was a message that had anchored the campaign from the start and was echoed by Mamdani, Levine, Williams, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez alike: the city\u2019s wealthiest residents and biggest corporations should shoulder a greater share of the tax burden.<\/p>\n READ: Zohran Mamdani elected New York\u2019s first Indian American, Muslim mayor<\/a> (November 5, 2025)<\/p>\n Sanders made the point explicit as the crowd responded with chants of \u201cTax the rich.\u201d \u201cDemanding that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes is not radical. It is exactly the right thing to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For Mamdani, that theme<\/a> translates into concrete policy goals. A central pledge of his campaign was to raise New York City\u2019s corporate tax rate from 7.25 percent to 11.5 percent, bringing it in line with neighbouring New Jersey, alongside a proposed 2 percent tax increase on individuals earning more than $1 million annually. Any such changes, however, would require approval from the governor before they could take effect.<\/p>\n Housing quickly emerged as the clearest expression of Mamdani\u2019s affordability push. During the campaign, he repeatedly pointed to rent-stabilised apartments \u2014 which make up roughly half of the city\u2019s rental housing \u2014 and pledged to freeze rents as a way to bring immediate relief to tenants.<\/p>\n \u201cThose in rent-stabilised homes will no longer dread the latest rent hike \u2013 because we will freeze the rent,\u201d Mamdani said during his inauguration remarks.<\/p>\n He moved to underline that promise within hours of taking office. At a news conference later the same day, Mamdani rolled out his first set of executive actions, all focused on housing. \u201cOn the first day of this new administration, on the day when so many rent payments are due, we will not wait to deliver action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Standing inside a rent-stabilized building in Brooklyn, the new mayor announced three executive orders, including the formation of two new city task forces on housing. One will catalogue city-owned land that could be developed for housing, while the other will explore ways to accelerate construction and expand the city\u2019s housing supply.<\/p>\n Mamdani framed those early moves as part of a broader reset for the city. In a speech on his first day in office, he pledged to \u201creinvent\u201d New York, casting his administration as the start of \u201ca new era\u201d for the nation\u2019s largest city and signalling an aggressive opening to his mayoralty.<\/p>\n READ: Zohran Mamdani sworn in as New York City mayor at midnight<\/a> (January 1, 2026)<\/p>\n