Overview
- He took the oath just after midnight in the closed Old City Hall subway station, administered by New York Attorney General Letitia James, placing his hand on his grandfather’s Koran as the city’s first Muslim mayor at age 34.
- Thousands attended a frigid public celebration at City Hall featuring Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where Mamdani cast his tenure as a test of left‑wing competence.
- He centered his inaugural message on cutting living costs, reaffirming plans for a rent freeze for roughly a million homes, free buses and childcare, and a large affordable‑housing buildout funded by higher taxes on the wealthy and businesses.
- Policy specialists warn that key planks face structural limits, including a Rent Guidelines Board not yet aligned with City Hall and a state‑controlled MTA that curbs the mayor’s leverage over transit fares.
- Relations with Washington remain a variable after campaign‑season threats from President Trump and a cordial November meeting, leaving questions over federal funding and immigration enforcement.