Mamdani becomes new mayor of New York
Jan. 1 (UPI) — New York City has a new mayor Thursday after the private swearing-in ceremony in an abandoned subway tunnel just after midnight.
Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York early Thursday morning. He was sworn in by New York Attorney General Letitia James, with his wife Rama Duwaji holding two Korans for the first Muslim mayor to swear on.
One of the Korans belonged to his grandfather, and another belonged to Arturo Schomburg, a Black historian and writer who was an important intellectual figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
The small ceremony took place in the old City Hall station, which is one of 28 original subway stations that opened in 1904. It was closed in 1945.
“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani called the station “a testament to the importance of public transit to the vitality, the health and the legacy of our city.”
A public inauguration will happen at 1 p.m. Thursday on the steps of City Hall. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will administer a ceremonial oath of office, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., will make an opening speech. About 4,000 people were invited to that ceremony, Mamdani said, but the block party will be open to all.
“We wanted to ensure that as we celebrated the beginning of our administration, it was a celebration that was not simply for the typical people who would be invited to an inauguration, but in fact, for everyone,” Mamdani told reporters last week.
“This is not my success. It’s our success. It’s not my administration. It’s our administration. Similarly, it’s not my inauguration. It’s for all of us,” the new mayor added.
Mamdani has an ambitious agenda, including free buses, rent freezes and more. He has said funding will come from raising taxes on those who earn more than $1 million. But he needs the state to approve any taxes, and Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is opposed to raising taxes in the state. She has implied that she supports finding other revenue to fund his plan.
“It is my job as governor to make sure that whomever the mayor is, they’re successful,” Hochul told WNYW-TV in December.
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