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Mamdani Takes Office in New York With Housing Orders and IHRA Policy Reversal

The new mayor’s first-day moves to refocus city policy on affordability and civil liberties drew swift condemnation from Israel and criticism from local opponents.

Overview

  • Zohran Mamdani was sworn in in a midnight ceremony at the Old City Hall subway station and later held a public inauguration at City Hall, becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than a century.
  • He signed housing-focused executive orders that relaunched the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants and created the LIFT and SPEED task forces to inventory city land and streamline approvals for new homes.
  • City Hall said New York moved to intervene as a creditor in the bankruptcy of Pinnacle Realty, citing thousands of violations and complaints across 83 buildings, to seek immediate relief for tenants.
  • Mamdani revoked nine Eric Adams–era directives, including adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a ban on city agencies boycotting or divesting from Israel, and an order allowing ICE access at Rikers Island.
  • Israel’s Foreign Ministry denounced the IHRA rollback, while the administration said it will retain the municipal Office to Combat Antisemitism as it pursues a broader affordability agenda.