Zohran Mamdani Takes the Oath as New York City’s 112th Mayor

Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking the oath of office just after midnight in the old City Hall subway station, a decommissioned stop beneath Manhattan with arched tile ceilings. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democratic ally, administered the oath, and Mamdani placed his hand on a Quran, Al Jazeera reported, as his wife, Rama Duwaji, watched. “This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” he said, according to NPR and Al Jazeera.

Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim mayor, and NPR’s photo caption counts him as the 112th. Al Jazeera adds that he is the first of South Asian descent and the first born in Africa, and at 34 the youngest mayor in generations. Born in Kampala, Uganda, he moved to New York at age 7, became a U.S. citizen in 2018 and won a state Assembly seat from Queens in 2020, Al Jazeera said. He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo twice, first in the Democratic primary in June and then in the November general election, by nearly ten points, according to NPR.

A second, larger ceremony was scheduled for 1 p.m. on the steps of City Hall, where Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was to administer a ceremonial oath, Al Jazeera reported. NPR said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was also expected to attend, and Al Jazeera reported that a public block party would follow on Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes.

His campaign made affordability its central theme. His platform included free bus service, universal child care, a rent freeze for roughly 1 million rent-regulated households, and a pilot program of city-run grocery stores. Many of those proposals would need money that the mayor cannot raise alone. NPR reported that they rely on tax increases on corporations and wealthy residents, which require approval in Albany and the support of more moderate Democrats there. Gov. Kathy Hochul has signaled support for his goal of free child care, NPR said.

The strongest objection from skeptics is one of cost: the largest promises depend on tax increases that he cannot enact himself. Some critics, including Democratic leaders, have also raised concerns about his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America and his frequent criticism of Israel and the war in Gaza, NPR reported.

His relationship with the White House has been unusual. During the campaign President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won, floated sending National Guard troops and called him a “100% Communist Lunatic” on social media, according to Al Jazeera. After the election, however, Trump hosted him at the Oval Office on Nov. 21, 2025, and said he wanted Mamdani to succeed and would help him. Asked whether he still considered Trump a fascist, Mamdani told NBC News he held that view, Al Jazeera reported.

In one sign of continuity, Mamdani kept Jessica Tisch on as police commissioner, NPR reported. One top appointee withdrew after the Anti-Defamation League surfaced old social media posts widely seen as insensitive, according to the same report.

Whether his agenda can be paid for will depend on his dealings with Hochul and state lawmakers in Albany, where the biggest items on his list would have to be approved.