(The Center Square) – Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani took the reins of the nation’s most populous city in a midnight ceremony Thursday.
Mamdani was sworn into office by New York Attorney General Letitia James in a private ceremony at an abandoned subway station.
New Years Day will feature a second, public swearing-in and a block party outside New York City’s City Hall.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said. “After just having taken my oath to become the mayor of the city of New York, I do so also here in the old city hall subway station – a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health, the legacy of our city.”
Mamdani shocked the nation’s political Democrat establishment by winning the Nov. 5 election in a three-way race. That race included former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and, briefly, the city’s outgoing mayor, Eric Adams.
“Our time has come, New York,” Mamdani posted on Election Day. “Our time is now.”
Mamdani has pledged to eliminate fares to ride New York City’s public bus system, make the City University of New York “tuition-free,” freeze rents in municipal housing and set up city-owned grocery stores – all funded by plans to tax the state’s highest income earners and corporations. Critics say the tax hikes will further driver the city’s higher earners to move out.
In a historic move, Mamdani was sworn in using a Qur’an. He is the first Muslim mayor in New York City’s history, and the youngest since 1892.
