Overview
- He took the oath just after midnight at the Old City Hall subway station with his hand on a Quran administered by Attorney General Letitia James, then held a public ceremony where Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a ceremonial oath and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke.
- Within hours, he rescinded several late Adams-era executive orders and announced housing-focused steps, including reviving a tenant protection office and creating two task forces on housing policy.
- He pledged to govern as a democratic socialist and pressed an affordability program centered on free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for roughly 1 million rent‑stabilized units, and a pilot of city‑run grocery stores, proposals that carry significant costs and require state cooperation.
- Conservative figures and pro‑Trump influencers denounced his ideology and the ceremony’s religious elements, even as prior comments from President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to work with the new mayor on shared priorities like housing.
- Jewish communal leaders voiced concern over his past criticism of Israel and an ADL report that at least 20% of transition or administrative appointees had anti‑Israel statements or ties to radical anti‑Zionist groups, placing his outreach under early scrutiny.