New York City: In a historic midnight subway ceremony, Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor
New York City: In a historic midnight ceremony in a defunct Manhattan subway station, Zohran Mamdani took the oath of office as the city’s new mayor, making history as the first Muslim to hold the position.
During his swearing-in ceremony, Mamdani touched a Quran for the first time in the city’s political history.
Moments after taking the oath, Mamdani said, “This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime.”
At the historic City Hall subway station, one of the first stations on the city’s first subterranean line, the 34-year-old Democrat was sworn in by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a close political friend.
The event took place at the station, which is well-known for its elaborate arched ceilings and historical importance. Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s wife, held the Quran during the swearing.
Later in the day, at 1 p.m. local time, Mamdani will be sworn in once again in a more extensive public ceremony at City Hall.
One of the future mayor’s political inspirations, US Senator Bernie Sanders, will preside over the occasion. The incoming government will thereafter host a public block party.
The event will take place along the “Canyon of Heroes,” a section of Broadway that has historically been the site of ticker-tape parades.
After the ceremonies, Mamdani and his spouse will relocate to the official mayoral house in Manhattan from their one-bedroom, rent-stabilized apartment in an outlying borough.
He now takes office as one of the most carefully followed political personalities in the nation, beginning what is generally considered to be one of the most difficult tasks in American politics.
The son of scholar-activist Mahmood Mamdani and celebrated director Mira Nair, Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, in 1991.
The confluence of many diasporas is reflected in his own path. In addition to becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York City, he is also the first South Asian mayor, the first African-born mayor, and the youngest mayor in generations at 34.
When Mamdani was seven years old, his family relocated to New York City, where he grew up in the years after the September 11 attacks, when many Muslims felt excluded.
After obtaining US citizenship in 2018, he worked on Democratic politicians’ campaigns around the city before running for government. He was elected to a Queens district in the New York State Assembly in 2020.
The democratic socialist ran a campaign that helped elevate “affordability” to the top of the political agenda, promising to implement significant reforms to lower living expenses in one of the priciest cities on earth.