Democrat Zohran Mamdani was sworn in just after midnight on Thursday as New York City’s first Muslim mayor.
The oath-taking took place at the decommissioned City Hall subway station, one of the city’s oldest and most iconic transit sites, where Mamdani placed his hand on a Quran as he assumed office.
The oath was administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“This is truly the honour and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
In his first remarks as mayor, Mamdani hailed the historic underground venue as a symbol of the city’s soul, calling it a “testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city,” as he announced Mike Flynn as commissioner of the Department of Transportation.
He ended the brief ceremony by telling attendees, “Thank you all so much, now I will see you later,” before emerging from the subway station.
Mamdani will be sworn in again later Thursday at a public ceremony at City Hall, with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders administering the oath. A celebratory block party is scheduled to follow along Broadway’s famed “Canyon of Heroes.”
At just 34, Mamdani becomes the youngest mayor New York City has had in generations.
He also makes history as the city’s first mayor of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa.
Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York City at age seven.
He became an American citizen in 2018 and won election to the New York State Assembly in 2020, representing part of Queens.
His rise to City Hall was powered by an affordability-focused campaign, featuring proposals for free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about one million households, and a pilot program for city-run grocery stores.
Mamdani takes office as New York continues its post-COVID recovery, with crime, unemployment, and tourism returning to pre-pandemic levels, even as residents grapple with soaring prices and rising rents.
He will also have to navigate relations with Republican President Donald Trump, who threatened during the campaign to withhold federal funding if Mamdani won, but later struck a conciliatory tone.
“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.
In preparation for taking office, Mamdani has already sought to reassure business leaders by retaining Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, are expected to move from their rent-stabilized apartment into the official mayoral residence in Manhattan, marking the next chapter in a political ascent that has already rewritten New York’s history books.
