Overview
- Within hours of being sworn in, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an order voiding his predecessor’s directives issued since September 26, 2024, including measures backing Israel, while leaving the city’s antisemitism office in place.
- He launched an affordability push by reviving the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants under Cea Weaver and creating task forces to identify city-owned sites for housing by July 2026 and to streamline building approvals.
- A large City Hall ceremony in frigid conditions featured Senator Bernie Sanders administering the oath on the Quran and remarks from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, following a private midnight swearing-in at the Old City Hall subway station.
- Reiterating his campaign platform, he pledged a rent freeze affecting roughly one million regulated households, free childcare and free buses, and a pilot for city-run grocery stores, with new revenue expected to come from higher taxes on the wealthy subject to state approval.
- Conservative figures, including Laura Loomer and Representative Nicole Malliotakis, attacked his ideology and the ceremony’s religious elements, as scrutiny of his past statements on Israel intensified alongside strong progressive backing.