Overview
- Letitia James administered the oath just after midnight in the disused Old City Hall station, a site Mamdani cast as a symbol of public infrastructure serving working people.
- A larger public celebration is scheduled at City Hall at midday, with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leading the program before crowds on Broadway.
- Mamdani, 34, becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor and took the oath on a Quran held by his wife, Rama Duwaji, using an edition linked to Harlem scholar Arturo Schomburg.
- His platform centers on tackling living costs, including a proposed rent freeze affecting over one million apartments, 200,000 affordable homes, universal childcare, public low‑price supermarkets, and free buses.
- Early tests include scrutiny over a staffer’s resignation for past antisemitic tweets, institutional hurdles such as rent‑board appointments by predecessor Eric Adams, and the prospect of renewed federal pressure from President Trump.