Democrat Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s mayor in the first minutes of the New Year yesterday at the historic City Hall subway station, kicking off a term that will be closely watched by both liberal backers and conservative opponents.
Mamdani, a member of his party’s left-wing democratic socialist faction, was elected last November in a prominent victory that could influence how Democrats approach this year’s midterm elections that will determine control of the US Congress.
The 34-year-old campaigned heavily on cost-of-living issues and was sharply critical of Republican President Donald Trump, whose approval rating has fallen over the past year amid economic concerns.
Many of New York’s eight million residents – some with hope, some with trepidation – expect him to be a disruptive political force.
Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, chose the subway station for his swearing in to reflect his commitment to New York workers who keep the city running each day, his transition team said.
The station was decommissioned decades ago and is accessible only a few times a year through guided tours.
“Happy New Year to New Yorkers, both inside this tunnel and above,” said Mamdani, who took the oath with his wife Rama Duwaji by his side.
“This is truly an honour and a privilege of a lifetime.”
Hours after the swearing in, the lead group tasked with electing Republicans to the US House of Representatives sought to portray Mamdani as a ‘radical socialist’.
“Every time Mamdani opens his mouth or swipes his pen, he tattoos the Democrat Party’s failures onto every House Democrat facing voters in 2026,” spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement that signalled the sizable role Mamdani is likely to play on the national campaign stage.
To avoid any ambiguity about who is in charge of America’s most populous city, it has become tradition to hold a small swearing-in just after midnight to kick off the four-year term.
The official oath-taking was to be followed by a more public ceremony.
Mamdani, a former state legislator, promised a freeze on rents and free buses and childcare, building a campaign around affordability issues that some have seen as a path forward for the Democratic Party around the country ahead of November midterm elections.
In one early reversal, Mamdani said on Wednesday that he would no longer seek to end mayoral control of New York City’s public school system, the largest in the US, naming veteran educator Kamar Samuels as chancellor.
Mamdani inspired a record-breaking turnout of more than 2m voters and took 50 per cent of the vote in November, nearly 10 points ahead of Andrew Cuomo running as an independent.
&uuid=(email))