Zohran Mamdani, the rising star of the American left, was sworn in early Thursday morning as mayor of New York City for a four-year term that will almost certainly see him clash with President Donald Trump.
The 34-year-old Democrat took the oath of office in an abandoned subway station beneath City Hall shortly after midnight to assume leadership of America’s largest city. He will be New York’s first Muslim mayor.
His office stated that the discreet location beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to the working class, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on a promise to address the rising cost of living.
NBC News reported that Mamdani took the oath holding two copies of the Holy Quran: one belonging to his grandfather and the other from the Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture at the New York Public Library.
“Happy New Year to New Yorkers, both inside this tunnel and above,” said Mamdani, standing beneath a vaulted ceiling with the words “City Hall” emblazoned above his head. “This is a true honor and a once-in-a-lifetime privilege.”
He also called the ornate subway station “a testament to the importance of public transportation to the vitality, health, and legacy of our city.”
Mamdani’s private swearing-in ceremony to begin his four-year term was officiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud. His wife, Rama Duwaji, was also present.
According to CNN, his parents, filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, were also in attendance.
A larger inauguration ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, featuring speeches from left-leaning allies Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Around 4,000 ticketed guests are expected to attend the event in front of City Hall.
Mamdani’s team has also organized a street party that they say will allow tens of thousands of people to witness the ceremony from viewing areas along Broadway. New York law stipulates that mayors’ four-year terms begin on January 1st after the election. To avoid any ambiguity about who is in charge of America’s most populous city, it has become a tradition to hold a small swearing-in ceremony just after midnight.
Born in Uganda to a family of Indian descent, Mamdani moved to New York at the age of seven and enjoyed an elite education with a brief foray into politics, serving as a member of the New York State Assembly before being elected mayor.
He surrounds himself with experienced advisors recruited from previous mayoral administrations and the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden.
Mamdani has also begun talks with business leaders, some of whom predicted a mass exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have refuted those claims.
He has promised to freeze rents and provide free buses and childcare, building a campaign around affordability issues that some have seen as a path forward for his Democratic Party nationwide ahead of the midterm elections.
Mamdani inspired a record turnout of more than two million voters and garnered 50 percent of the vote, nearly 10 points ahead of independent Andrew Cuomo and well ahead of Republican Curtis Sliwa.