Overview
- New York Attorney General Letitia James will administer a private midnight oath in the Old City Hall subway station, followed by a 1 p.m. City Hall ceremony where Sen. Bernie Sanders will swear in Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will deliver opening remarks, with a Broadway block party planned.
- The incoming mayor’s affordability agenda includes universal childcare, a rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants, fare-free city buses and pilot city-run supermarkets, proposals that would require billions of dollars.
- Mamdani has proposed raising revenue by taxing wealthy residents and corporations, but he cannot change tax rates on his own and will need Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature; Hochul has signaled skepticism about income-tax hikes on the wealthy while leaving the door open to a higher corporate tax.
- Plans to freeze rents face procedural hurdles after outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’ late appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board, which could push any freeze back by a year or more.
- His transition blends continuity with new faces, retaining Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and naming experienced hands such as First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, while adding appointees including Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su, Budget Director Sherif Soliman, and Corporation Counsel-designate Steve Banks.